Republicans may not know it yet, but the ground is rapidly shifting underneath their feet. In the past 72 hours, something has changed; and the change is far more profound than the rushed changing of the guard at the top of the Democratic Party ticket.
Two weeks ago, Donald Trump’s victory appeared all but inevitable. Joe Biden had been visibly senile for some time, but in the wake of his disastrous debate performance, the entire media suddenly seemed to notice as much. The same outlets that had gone to great lengths to excuse, obfuscate, and run cover for the president’s mental decline suddenly laid siege to the White House, subjecting Biden to a level of scrutiny and negative press onslaught that Democratic presidents rarely, if ever, contend with. For a brief period of time, Biden and his allies experienced a taste of what it was like to work in the Trump administration. (“Trump obviously took for granted going in that he would have this level of hostility,” Auron MacIntyre noted on X. “But Democrats assume slavish press compliance”). (READ MORE: Media Tries to Move on From Scandal of Century: Biden Is Cognitively Gone)
The Democratic Party — in many ways, merely the formal political extension of the media-industrial-complex — acted accordingly. In near-unison with the media pivot, Democratic donors, politicians, and party elites turned on Biden, with a growing chorus of power players calling for the president to step aside — something that would have been almost unthinkable just a few months prior. As Biden’s list of intra-party enemies grew, his cohort of friends and defenders shrunk. In rapidly declining health, barely capable of even mustering a public appearance, shedding allies by the day, and faced with a concerted narrative pressure campaign that left-wing politicians almost never have to contend with, the president was isolated.
Despite his team’s initial defiance — and a feeble, facially pathetic attempt to project strength — in a matter of weeks, their defenses were spent. On Sunday, July 21, Biden relented, withdrawing from the race and endorsing Vice President Kamala Harris as his presumptive successor.
Almost immediately, the headlines changed. The same outlets that had been breathlessly covering every rumor, damaging story, and sign of weakness from the Democratic president got to work airbrushing and deifying Harris. The tone of the reporting became affectionate, admiring, even awestruck. “Through all her calls at the Naval Observatory, Harris wore a hooded Howard University sweatshirt, workout sweats and sneakers,” a senior reporter at CNN intoned on Monday. “They got pizza and salad for dinner. She went with her favorite topping: anchovies.” A BBC editor chimed in: “The Howard sweatshirt is an important detail here. For Harris, this is about where she came from as much as what lies ahead. Howard is the first place she looks for when Air Force Two lands in Washington.”
This is our bold, fearless press corps. Afflicting the comfortable and comforting the afflicted. Speaking truth to power. Following the story wherever it leads, without fear or favor.
But the tone changed, as it pertained to Trump, too. Prior to Harris’ coronation, America 2100 noted in a thread today, “the press was suddenly treating Trump better than they ever had before—or ever would again”:
“Trump’s emotional appearance” (New York Times)
“Trump calls for unity” (NY Daily News)
“Trump savors convention crowd” (NBC)
“Trump faithful moved” by his entrance (BBC)Trump’s speeches are usually “dark,” “angry,” “filled with far-right dog whistles.” But not this one. (5/9) pic.twitter.com/PBBTSPexhv
— America 2100 (@America_2100) July 25, 2024
Once Biden had been handled, however, the press renewed its full-scale assault on Trump with more enthusiasm than ever. This week’s headlines announced the shift: “This Is Exactly What the Trump Team Feared” (the Atlantic); “Team Trump Is Begging Him to Take the Threat of Kamala Seriously” (the New Republic); “Prosecutor Kamala Harris takes on felon Donald Trump” (the Guardian); “Is Donald Trump Getting Cold Feet Over JD Vance? What We Know” (Newsweek). As easy as it is to mock this Pravda-style propaganda effort, the Right must understand the gravely serious implications. This is how power works in modern America — and that power is at work, as we speak, to lay the groundwork for the Left’s victory in November. As MacIntyre noted in his new book, The Total State:
Maintaining power in a democratic system means maintaining control over how the populace perceives and understands the world around them. As each branch of government becomes more vulnerable to the democratic process, control of power hinges increasingly on the ability to manipulate the masses. Instead of different societal forces with different bases of power being forced to the table and checking each other’s interests, power becomes dependent on one source: public opinion. The ability to wield power is reduced to an arms race around perfecting one skill: the manipulation of public opinion.
Conservatives who are disposed to believe that their fellow citizens will see the ruse for what it is underestimate the power of the media apparatus. (As the events of the past few years can attest to.) The press is the narrative arm of a formidable regime — and that regime’s political machine is about to kick into high gear.
READ MORE:
Media Tries to Move on From Scandal of Century: Biden Is Cognitively Gone