There is no “both sides” to Donald Trump’s threat to democracy
Just because Republicans choose unreality doesn’t mean the media should ignore the facts of January 6.
On January 6, 2021, I watched CNN as thousands of Donald Trump supporters stormed the US Capitol. As someone well-versed in watching tragedy on television, I was struck by just how indisputable the facts were at the time: violent, red-hat-clad MAGA rioters, followed by Republicans in Congress, tried to stop democracy in its tracks. Trump had told his followers that the protest in Washington, DC, “will be wild,” and in the assault that followed his speech, some rioters smeared feces on the walls of the Capitol. Hundreds of them have since been convicted on charges ranging from assault on federal officers to seditious conspiracy. These are stubborn facts, the kind that do not care about your feelings. These facts include the inalienable truth that Trump is the first president in American history to reject the peaceful transfer of power.
It never occurred to me that these facts could somehow be perverted by partisanship. But three years later, we are seeing just that, as Republicans cling to the lie that the 2020 election was “stolen” by Joe Biden and are poised to make Trump their 2024 nominee. And perhaps even more dangerous than the GOP ditching reality is the news media’s inability to cover Trumpism as the threat to democracy that it very much is.
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But the problem is, when all you have is conventional political framing, everything looks like politics as usual. One candidate makes a claim; the other disputes it. Two sides are divided, etc. This framing only works if both parties operate within the frameworks of a shared reality. But Trumpism doesn’t allow for the reality the rest of us inhabit. Trump’s supporters believe their leader’s reality and not, say, the reality the rest of us see with our eyes. As Trump once told a crowd: “Don’t believe the crap you see from these people, the fake news. What you’re seeing and what you’re reading is not what’s happening.”
Journalists may be well-intentioned in trying to be “objective,” or they’re simply afraid of being labeled partisan. Either way, coverage of January 6 that gives equal weight to both sides—one based in reality, one not—is helping pave the road for authoritarianism.
Nobody hates you, we're just sick of idealists in a time when we need pragmatists.
If you actually believed that, and weren't an idealist centrism and genocide yourself, you would pragmatically demand a primary to choose a candidate who could win and not try and demand unearned votes through shaming.
You're as pragmatic as a college kid carrying around a dog-eared copy of 'Atlas Shrugged'
Well said.
I'm sick of genocide
Do you think any person elected to the presidency wouldn't continue supporting Israel? To cut off funding and weapons to Israel would be absolute political suicide in this country. Don't care if it's Biden, Trump, Desantis, doesn't matter. Israel will continue to get $Billions and weapons. It's just the way it is.
cornel west and jill stein would.
But neither of them will win. So they’re both irrelevant.
where did you get your crystal ball?
I admire your optimism, but I think the black socialist professor and intersectional activist might find it difficult to sway enough votes on either side. It's a shame you don't have a better voting system where you can rank your preferred candidates - would avoid much of these stupid games.
voting sucks in pretty much every system.
And neither of them have the slightest hope of winning
well not with that attitude
Those pesky idealists... being opposed to checks notes literal fucking genocide.
I'm voting for Biden and you don't care. You just want unquestioning support for the genocide you support.