This Friday on Fox News, host Trace Gallagher and associates laughed off what can only be called the media’s “Trump Derangement Syndrome” after the verdict on the former president’s case was given. Managing editor of NewsBusters, Curtis Houck, and The Federalist’s Evita Duffy joined in to dissect and critique the liberal media’s overzealous responses.
Collating responses from various news outlets, it was undeniable that some had drawn great pleasure from Trump’s conviction. A couple of standout reactions came from The View’s Joy Behar and Sunny Hostin. Behar cheerily admitted that the verdict caused her to lose control of her bladder, whereas Hostin claimed sources were hoping for Trump’s imprisonment.
In response to these over-the-top reactions, Curtis Houck could only compare it to the hysteria surrounding the Judge Alito controversy. Houck noted, “I do wonder if these media folks have lives outside repeatedly drumming up faux doomsday nonsense around Trump.” Adding to this, Gallagher amusingly questioned whether Martians had landed, given the apocalyptic tone used by these hosts.
Houck pointed out two trends that emerged among these media reactions; one being the doomsday rhetoric and the other being an almost gleeful excitement. He described it as “bizarre,” adding that “they don’t even know how they want to respond to this verdict”.
Houck also criticised the networks’ made-up decision to stream or not Trump’s remarks following his conviction. Despite dedicating significant airtime to the trial, the liberal networks opted not to show Trump’s comments.
On the flip side, Duffy addressed the lack of diversity of opinions on The View. She pointed out that this narrow viewpoint doesn’t resonate with the younger voters and minorities that the Democrats need to attract. On this note, Duffy observed that seeing what is happening to Trump is causing flashbacks among Hispanic communities of the totalitarian regimes they have fled from.
Gallagher cited a controversial piece from Elie Honig, a CNN legal analyst, featured in New York Magazine. Honig declared the charges brought against Trump as “obscure, and nearly entirely unprecedented” adding that they have been “contorted in an unprecedented way.”. Duffy argued that charging Trump was a political persecution attempt against anti-globalism and the conservative values upheld by Trump.
The media circus surrounding Trump’s conviction is truly unparalleled. The verdict has stirred strong emotions, particularly among leftist media outlets. Its impact has been polarising and heightened already existing political divides. We need to be able to have balanced and composed discussions in our media outlets, rather than allowing pre-existing opinions to cloud judgement. Until we reach this point, we’re merely stuck on a standstill filled with extreme, polarising reactions.
