Monday’s inaugural events sparked a range of emotions for many citizens, and for independents and everyone on the right of center who campaigned for Donald Trump’s reappearance in Washington DC, it was a day of positive reactions. Excitement, relief, anticipation, elation, inspiration and everything else was experienced.
The crowd and attendees exuded the kind of cathartic happiness that supposedly existed in Harris-Walz’s “Campaign of Joy,” something that more than a few pundits called unrealistic in portraying conservatives as spiteful and incensed antagonists. That prediction became clear when considering the reaction from the left and the press on Monday, which was bitter invective throughout much of the pageantry. What is impressive is the change in culture at the end of last year that has led us to reach this point.
For much of Biden’s term, there was a divide in this nation that could not be denied, one that was also acknowledged by the novel Democrat in 2020, who then vowed to repair the fractures in this country. Joe Biden insisted then on healing the country and reuniting us as a family – only to continue to hammer the wedge throughout his four years, berating and belittling those who did not follow his extremist agenda. The press was quite willing to play along, acting as his mouthpiece and branding those who disrupted his agenda.
I don’t want to say that the right was intimidated in those years, but with the media playing the dutiful harridans, it hindered discourse and open discussion. All the tired accusations – from racism to the list of “-phobias” to accusations of “denial” – were made and aimed at silencing the opposition. For a while it had enough traction to keep things moving forward. But at the end of 2024, a huge cultural shift occurred and suddenly tactics were neutered and the right rose up with a remarkable novel level of energy and confidence. It delivered Donald Trump back to the White House.
Two significant events occurred one after the other, producing different but interrelated outcomes that fueled this newfound power for the right: the first presidential debate and the assassination attempt at the Pennsylvania rally. To explain this change in the country, let’s start with the second point.
The attack on Trump made it clear that the fracture in the nation was not only real, but clearly expressed. Furthermore, the people most likely to denounce the country’s divide were also the ones pushing the intolerant narrative, suggesting that if he were re-elected, all sorts of calamity would befall the country. What made matters worse was the aftermath. Instead of decency and an ethical demand to condemn such violence, there was ambiguity. We immediately saw attempts to suggest that Trump’s rhetoric inspired this violence and/or that his and Republican policies were the driving forces behind this attack.
This vile reaction followed what happened during the debate. In the first six months of the year, the media was unanimous in its coverage of Joe Biden; The two-pronged plan was to deny that his mental state was degenerating and then attack those who dared to show that his decline was real. It was a complete corruption of journalistic practice – not only did they abandon their duty to the public, they also fought against the dissemination of the facts.
Then, when President Silveralert appeared live on camera at the debate, displaying all of the previously exposed weaknesses that were being fought against being made public, the press industry lost most of its influence. Journalists and media outlets were no longer able to take a leading role in news matters and their influence on the national narrative diminished. So when they tried to lecture us after Donald Trump almost lost his life, they failed completely because after the debate, not only were the months – or years – of lying they had lied to us exposed, but also their position Confetti was attacked as a valid source of any kind.
The balance of the year showed that the media struggled with its normal tactics, the Democrats’ reliable attack messages were largely empty words and, most importantly, conservatism found its voice, in immense part due to the building of barricades Elon Musk’s Xitter was due. The usual efforts of these sources were met with significant pushback, often ridiculed, and in the run-up to the election, Democrats and the press were in the loop.
When the media tried to rewrite Kamala Harris’ resume, they were confronted with solid facts. The incessant drumbeat of Trump’s promised evils was tempered by the observation that he had done nothing of the sort during his time as president. They sold Tim Walz and Doug Emhoff as alpha males and we just laughed. An attempt to stir up controversy about Puerto Rico failed as it was pointed out that they were screaming about a joke. When Jeffrey Goldberg tried to create a surprise in October by claiming that Trump had used a vulgar insult on a fallen soldier, his attempt was debunked within an afternoon.
And Trump used this newfound cultural power shift to his advantage. When the press tried to grill him for claiming that Kamala never worked at McDonald’s, he took a shift at the drive-thru instead. After Joe Biden called Trump supporters “trash,” it wasn’t just the press that spoke up couldn’t defend himself He defended it with a lame “he spoke with an apostrophe,” but Trump climbed into a custom-made garbage truck and completely flipped the narrative.
Shortly before the election, a network executive expressed concern that their efforts to push a Trump characterization were failing, and the election result brought this negative reality into the spotlight. The press is facing self-inflicted obsolescence.
Gone (at least for now) is the way negative coverage would leave a lasting impression. The characters hit are no longer greeted with a shrug. Now we are seeing more vocal defense and even converting the tries into an attacking strike. In recent weeks, networks have backed down on defamation lawsuits. The Democratic Party and the press were exposed as the growling dog behind a curtain who turned out to be a neutered Yorkie.
After 2016, they all vowed to rise up and defeat the oppressive scourge of Trump. After Russian collusion, Hunter’s laptop, Biden is “sharp” and “Kamala is competent,” we find they haven’t moored. This time they reacted with a whimper, like the pet dog who acted rabid when left alone but now cowers in the corner after being hit in the snot box with a rolled-up Newsweek magazine because it soiled the carpet .
It’s time for the alpha dogs to let off steam.
