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.
Trump will never pivot to unity because his whole brand is divisiveness
Not long after Trump’s attempted assassination at a Pennsylvania rally on July 13, mainstream outlets went along with the Trump campaign’s narrative:
The shocking event had changed him for the better.
When Trump made his first appearance at the RNC on July 15,
🔹the New York Times described him as “subdued” and claimed he showed a “glimpse of vulnerability.”
But Trump had already demonstrated he was unchanged earlier that day when he posted on Truth Social that
his idea of “Uniting our Nation” was the
dismissal of all criminal charges against him.
https://www.publicnotice.co/p/trump-assassination-attempt-media-criticism