How the press keeps whitewashing the racism that fuels Trump's base
newsdepo.com
A shameful new image from the Trump era was recently added to the rogues’ gallery when a feral mob of white MAGA-hatted teenage boys from Covington Catholic High School in Park Hills, Kentucky, surrounded, jeered, and mocked peaceful Native American protHow the press keeps whitewashing the racism that fuels Trump's base
A shameful new image from the Trump era was recently added to the rogues’ gallery when a feral mob of white MAGA-hatted teenage boys from Covington Catholic High School in Park Hills, Kentucky, surrounded, jeered, and mocked peaceful Native American protester Nathan Phillips on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial. The student at the center of the controversy and the GOP public relations firm he hired have pushed back, insisting the whole spectacle was a big misunderstanding. And far too many journalists have embraced and amplified that spin, suggesting the episode may have been misconstrued. (It was not.) In trying to gaslight the public over the ugly encounter, the press has simply continued its troubling tradition of coddling Trump voters and supporters. The sad Lincoln Memorial spectacle certainly raised concerns about what's been a media hallmark of the Trump era: publishing puff pieces about his supporters and usually whitewashing the racism that fuels his base. The Trump voter journalism genre, featuring (white) locals from red counties inside red states assembled at local diners blindly extolling Trump's virtues (“I think he’s doing a great job”; «Hitting it out of the ballpark”), has become so bountiful, so predictable, and so never-ending that it's turned into something of a Twitter punch line. Yet lots of leading news outlets, especially the New York Times, remain utterly obsessed with detailing the deep love between Trump and his dead-end supporters. (Actual Times headline: »These Guys Really Like Trump.") These GOP-friendly profiles seem to be a way for the supposedly liberal media to signal to conservatives that it’s willing to present their best side—over and over and over. And yes, the entire Trump voter newsbeat was invented out of whole cloth. Early in President Barack Obama’s first term, newsrooms weren't fanning out to Atlanta and Chicago and Los Angeles to stock up on quotes from black voters who loved the new president. Back then, what Obama voters thought of the new president simply wasn’t considered to be newsworthy by the political press. Yet today, what Trump voters think of Trump has been deemed to be wildly important, and is covered relentlessly. But what's been almost universally missing from the nonstop deluge of Trump voter stories? A look into the dark crevices of Trump Nation, and an open acknowledgment that his base is often fueled by racism. Read more