Trump supporters admire him for his status as a Washington outsider along with his populist stance and how he challenges the political establishment. He has also been criticized for his hostile rhetoric that promotes violence while pandering to nativist and racist groups.
Another factor that many have overlooked in trying to understand Trump’s rise is the role of the media in treating him like a serious candidate along with how he has been able to work this to his advantage. At the same time; brushing him-off as a clown is the first mistake that many of critics have made, which has allowed him to grow in popularity.
A presidential candidate like Trump is not new, there have been many in modern elections that have tapped into voters frustration by being something different. There have been candidates who have ran on their business record, challenged the status quo or tried to get elected on a racist platform.
Storm Thurmond is one such candidate who is best remembered running in 1948 on a platform to protect racial segregation. Ross Perot and Lyndon LaRouche made a run for the White House on a populist platform while denouncing the political establishment. Meanwhile, many on the Left and the Right have compared the Trump campaign to Pat Buchanan’s run for office.
So what changed that made Trump so popular? The answer is the role of the mainstream media in covering the campaign. Major networks like CNN and Fox News are more about ratings then journalistic integrity and reporting what is in the public’s best interest. As a result, serious issues get ignored by the media as they are more interested in what outrageous thing Trump has to say or what happens at his rallies.
Trump knows this all too well, and has used his status to use the major networks to his advantage. He has built a relationship with the media having been in the public spotlight for over three decades, while having been the star of The Apprentice and being a regular on major talk shows.
He knows people in the media and he knows what to say just to get their attention. This tactic has worked so well to his advantage that the mainstream media has given Trump over $1 billion in free advertising.
It has also created an atmosphere of fear among voters (with both supporters and detractors) while his rhetoric has inspired a series of hate crimes being carried out by fringe supporters. The most notable have been the beating of a a homeless Hispanic man in Boston and two college students being assaulted in Wichita.
Because the media has treated Trump like a serious candidate in the hopes of boosting ratings, it has legitimized his politics while destroying any sense of civil political discussion. The result is now a candidate so popular that neither the media or political establishment will be able to stop him.
Regardless if Trump wins the Republican nominee, his campaign will be forever remembered as one of the biggest failures of American journalism, second only to its cheerleader role in the buildup to the Iraq War.
