HOW THE MEDIA WORK
August 17, 2016
If the media can strangle Trump by terrorizing people about everything he says, then it's already over. I'm inclined to think Americans hate the media too much for that to work, but even sensible people can't think straight in the middle of one of these hate campaigns.
It can be very difficult for people to overcome whatever meaning the press superimposes on what someone has said, no matter how psychotic. Throw in incessant repetition and uniform agreement among the pundits (Hillary cheerleaders versus Never Trumpers), and completely deranged interpretations become historical facts.
Last August, Trump said the following about the way he was treated at the first GOP debate: "(Megyn Kelly) starts asking me all sorts of ridiculous questions, and you know, you can see there was blood coming out of her eyes, blood coming out of her -- wherever, but she was, in my opinion -- she was off base."
This was nearly identical to what Trump said about Chris Wallace a few sentences later: "There's a big difference between Mike Wallace and Chris Wallace because I watched them last night, you know, blood pouring out of his eyes, too."
Suddenly the words "her wherever" were being described as a clear-cut reference to Megyn's menstrual blood! (I have it on good authority that Chris Wallace has never menstruated.)
Trump expressed shock, saying of his accusers, "They have all dirty minds -- I never even thought about it ... I was thinking of ears or nose." (Accused by the same forces of something revolting, Whittaker Chambers gasped, "What kind of beasts am I dealing with?")
The day after Trump allegedly referred to Megyn's period, I happened to have a number of social engagements with people who hadn't heard about the scandale. So I gave them Trump's exact words, told them the media were in hysterics about it, and asked them to guess why. Read More »
