From its outset, the Trump presidential campaign was greeted by media outlets who lined up to berate and analyze every detail and word that Trump produced. It could even be said that there were some outlets that were out to get him.
Sites like Vox, Buzzfeed, and Huffington Post began to garner the same respect as established and better-sourced outlets like The New York Times and Wall Street Journal.
It is clear now that Trump had his reasons when he told the masses not to trust the dishonest polls. The Huffington Post gave Hillary Clinton as well as senatorial candidates Evan Bayh, Katie McGinty, and Russ Feingold over a 97% chance of winning, and they all ended up losing. But it wasn’t just a case of bad polling. It was a case of assumptions made by many members of the mainstream media that the changing demographics and ideologies in America all but assured a win for Hillary Clinton and a Democratic majority in the Senate.
When Trump ultimately won the election, there was no celebration or elation from the public or the media, but instead calls to disband the Electoral College and try to make “faithless electors” vote against Trump. Ironically enough, more electors defected from Clinton and voted for someone else than they did for Trump. Many media outlets cast doubt on the efficacy of a Trump presidency before Trump was even sworn in.
That being said, the Trump presidency so far has been very far from successful. His National Security Advisor, General Michael Flynn has already resigned after he lied about conversations with the Russian Ambassador about lifting Russian sanctions. Counselor to the President Kellyanne Conway also violated ethics laws by telling the public to buy Ivanka’s clothing lines after they were discontinued at Nordstrom for economic issues.
Many of Trump’s cabinet nominees have been stalled because of their failure to file ethics paperwork. Trump’s controversial immigration ban was also shut down in court. In the midst of all these events, Trump, who repeatedly chastised Obama for playing golf, has retreated from Washington D.C. every weekend to his residence in Florida to play rounds of golf, something even his aides have tried to hide. Not only did it take Obama until April to play his first round of golf in office, but Trump has also tweeted, “Don’t take vacations. What’s the point? If you’re not enjoying your work, you’re in the wrong job.”
If Trump examined his own words, maybe he’d see that he’s having quite a tough time in his current occupation. With his approval rating already hovering at only 40% just a month into his time in office, the rallies at which Trump said, “You’re going to get tired of winning” seem like a distant memory. Trump’s administration has already had a litany of ethical issues despite Trump running on a platform that included sweeping ethics reforms.
Despite promising to “drain the swamp,” many of Trump’s closest advisors and nominees have huge conflicts of interest in addition to vast personal wealth. Yet Trump continues to attack the media relentlessly and dismiss anything that portrays him in a negative light as “fake news.” Although the media is being highly critical towards Trump in a manner that is different than during the Obama administration, Trump is not doing himself any favors.
There is still time for him to salvage his image and not plunge into historical disapproval, but he has already lost considerable political capital by listening to Stephen Bannon and Alex Jones over actual, sensible conservative minds. Perhaps it’s time for Trump to step off of the golf course, turn off Fox News, and pay attention to plethora of information that he has at his fingertips in the Oval Office.