Donald Trump is leading in the polls and has a chance of moving back into the White House. His campaign recalls a Netflix series in which the episodes become crasser and crasser. Anyone who thinks it can’t get worse is wrong, and that’s also due to the media.
A piece about Donald Trump. Is that really necessary? It’s very possible that’s what you were thinking when you saw this article. It’s a valid question; the writer asked himself the same thing. As in the presidential primaries in 2016 and 2020, we are again seeing now, before the first primary, the same strange symbiosis between the media and the anti-politician Trump.
It seems like a mutual obsession. Journalists report about him excessively, often with an undertone of warning. For his part, Trump never fails to let his hateful tirade loose against the “enemy of the people” at every appearance. In the end, both sides profit, because attention is the most valuable currency in politics and the media business.
In terms of the media, this characterization applies primarily to American brands, of course. But you can see the pattern beyond the United States as well because the U.S. presidency is the most powerful office in the world and Trump is an unbeatable showman. The number of clicks on Swiss news sites demonstrate that Trump is also of interest here. A new season of the absurd reality TV series is coming out, a series that we already finished watching and were glad when it was over. Now we can’t help but watch again.
New Tone in Liberal Media
If you’ve read this far, perhaps you are asking yourself a second question. It’s the crucial one. Is it really possible that Trump could be elected for a second time? On this, too, we have to say something about journalists. In 2016, almost all media outlets and polling institutions made fools of themselves, predicting that Hillary Clinton would win. In 2020, the forecasts were much more cautious. Trump was considered a favorite — that is, until the COVID-19 pandemic began, and Trump gambled away victory with mismanagement and lines like, “It’s going to go. It’s going to leave. It’s going to be gone.”
Now polls are showing that Trump has a real chance of returning to the White House. Articles explaining how that is possible are piling up in U.S. media. The reason is inflation. It’s the economy, stupid! And you can hear a new tone. A prominent columnist at the liberal New York Times writes that Trump was quick to recognize that mass migration is “the single most important geopolitical fact of the century.” Most other politicians, he says, refused to acknowledge that immigration is a problem.
Reporter and author Maggie Haberman, also a Trump opponent, considers him much better positioned than he was four years ago. Trump thrives in a campaign where he can appear as the opposition rather than as the incumbent. So, now “the experience of 2024 is less likely to be like 2020 than 2016,” Haberman says.
From a European perspective, the chance that Trump will succeed may seem especially incomprehensible because he is facing dozens of civil and criminal charges. Precisely why that may, in fact, be a bonus for him was showcased on Thursday. Multiple TV outlets, including those that are hostile to Trump, like CNN and MSNBC, broadcast his press conference about the civil fraud trial live.
Indictments as Attention Booster
The indicted Trump had many minutes to speak unfiltered about how he is the victim of a witch hunt with time to spread his campaign message. In terms of content, he always says the same thing, but his speech is growing more radical and imploring. In one clip, he even presents himself as a gift from God. Whoever thinks that the episodes of the latest Trump season can’t ratchet up even further will be disappointed.
It’s possible that most Americans would have had enough of it all if there were a convincing alternative. But Joe Biden, 81, is, for many, one thing above all else: old and weak. Trump, only four years younger, appears more vibrant. That is the second obsession of this campaign. Biden and Trump need each other. Other actors are filling supporting roles at best. Republican candidate Nikki Haley may be the only one who can provide a bit of suspense.
Trump, who despises losers, wants to erase the humiliation of 2020. Biden believes that he is the only one capable of beating Trump — after all, he has proven that he can. So, America is trapped in this Biden-Trump duel. And, along with America, so is the rest of the world.
War is raging in Ukraine and in the Middle East, and China is expanding its sphere of control. It would be important for Switzerland and Europe, too, for the U.S. to be under good leadership. Switching channels doesn’t help. The U.S. election is not a TV show; it is bitter reality.
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