How the press helped Trump sell himself as a strongman

https://www.publicnotice.co/p/trump-assassination-attempt-media-criticism

Between President Biden announcing he’s stepping aside, his endorsement of VP Kamala Harris, the Democratic Party turning the presidential race on its head by quickly rallying around her, and JD Vance immediately crashing and burning as Trump’s VP pick, this week has been a historic one in American politics — so much so that last week’s RNC feels like a distant memory.

But it’s worth devoting some attention to how the press did Trump’s work for him by portraying the aspiring authoritarian exactly how he wants to be seen — as a heroic strongman and newfound champion of political unity.

Trump accepted the Republican presidential nomination for a third time on July 17 with a rambling, incoherent mess of a speech that offered a terrifying vision for America during its rare moments of coherence. His performance was widely regarded as a disaster. But a range of major newspapers didn’t cover it that way.

More than a few headlines actually raved about it. The Boston Globe: “In a departure, Trump calls for unity, healing in America.” The Atlanta Journal-Constitution: “Trump urges unity after assassination attempt while proposing sweeping populist agenda.” Baltimore Sun: “Subdued Trump describes assassination try, accepts nomination.”

As media critic Parker Molloy pointed out, these papers seemingly reported on Trump’s speech based on the prepared remarks, not the speech as he actually delivered it.

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