This may be the last bit of calm we have before the 2024 US elections are done and dusted. Whoever wins next week faces recriminations and resentment from the half of the country that didn’t vote for them. The results may well be mired in court cases for weeks to come. We may look back on the days of the “hanging chads” as a more innocent era.
In the final days of the campaign, nothing much has changed for the Trump campaign. There have been no sudden sex scandals and the claims of the Trump being literal Hitler are losing their sting. The media attempted to draw parallels between the Trump rally at Madison Square Garden and a 1930’s fascist rally at the same venue. Yes, the media were unanimous that speakers at the rally were racist, misogynist and vulgar. From CNN:
Donald Trump anchored his bid to win a second White House term next week on searing anti-migrant fear at a rally at Madison Square Garden, doubling down on his promise for a massive deportation program on Day 1 to reverse an “immigrant invasion.”
As the ex-president’s allies defend him against Democratic claims he is a “fascist” and an authoritarian in waiting, based in part on warnings by his ex-chief of staff John Kelly, Trump on Sunday delivered a screed that may augur the most extreme presidency in modern history if he beats Democratic nominee Kamala Harris on November 5.
“The United States is an occupied country,” Trump said, as Democrats projected messages on the exterior of the storied New York City arena, reading “Trump is Unhinged” and “Trump praised Hitler.”
At this stage, one would be disappointed if the Democrats did not hyperventilate and call Trump “Hitler” yet one more time. Mainstream media coverage has lost its ability to affect the Trump campaign. However the big shock this week was the failure of two well-known legacy media outlets to endorse Kamala Harris. Billionaire owner of the Washington Post Jeff Bezos pulled an endorsement that was apparently ready to publish, causing consternation and the immediate resignation of a columnist Robert Kagan. Bezos explained his action in an op-ed on Monday which may have done little to mollify the base:
Our profession is now the least trusted of all. Something we are doing is clearly not working.Let me give an analogy. Voting machines must meet two requirements. They must count the vote accurately, and people must believe they count the vote accurately. The second requirement is distinct from and just as important as the first.
Likewise with newspapers. We must be accurate, and we must be believed to be accurate. It’s a bitter pill to swallow, but we are failing on the second requirement. Most people believe the media is biased.
