Eric Boehlert: Capitol mob -- how the press spent years glorifying Trump voters

[babylonsister]

https://pressrun.media/p/capitol-mob-how-the-press-spent-years

Capitol mob — how the press spent years glorifying Trump voters
Deplorables
Eric Boehlert
2 hr ago

snip//

The lawless, violent Trump mob rampaged inside the Capitol, drew gunfire from police, and destroyed offices of Democratic members. News consumers might have been surprised by what unfolded on Wednesday, because while the political press has feasted on Trump Voter stories over the last five years, constantly meeting up with white, Midwestern loyalists in diners, virtually none of that gentle coverage ever hinted at a radical, racist, conspiratorial dark side.

Trump stands at the fulcrum of a hate movement as he constantly spouts divisive rhetoric, likening Blacks to rodents and immigrants to violent trespassers. Doesn't it stand to reason that lots of his supporters are hateful, too?

Routinely depicted as hard working folks in search of a political path, and thankful for Trump leadership, the Trump Voter coverage for years has failed to pull back the curtain and reveal even small glimpses of Wednesday's organized mob. Committed to the idea of documenting every thought and nuance inside Trump Nation (and fending off claims of "liberal media bias" in the process), the press has presented a gauzy fantasy about what was really going on in right-wing America.

snip//

When Hillary Clinton told the truth about Trump Voters in 2016, she was widely condemned in the press. In September 2016, she suggested half of Trump supporters fit into a “basket of deplorables." The baskets included, “racist, sexist, homophobic, xenophobic, Islamaphobic." The press elevated the throw-away into a major campaign story, as a Beltway full of commentators, following the GOP's orchestrated lead, offered up ceaseless tsk-tsk analysis.

snip//

Cheered on now by the relentless propaganda campaign to denigrate free and fair elections, Trump voters are at the forefront of a radical and dangerous political movement designed to undermine democracy. How did the press miss that story?

[still_one]

1. This USA editorial from 2019 is an example of the media's bothsiderisms

https://www.usatoday.com/story/opinion/2019/04/26/joe-biden-donald-trump-charlotttesville-fine-people-neo-nazis-column/3588970002/

[wishstar]

2. Infuriating how talking heads bashed Hillary over "deplorables" instead of Trump for elevating them

I remember all the snide remarks from pundits describing Dems as elitist liberals who looked down on Trump's right wing base that we were supposed to try to understand and show empathy towards.

[still_one]

3. Excellent point

[malaise]

8. Great point

She was correct - who but deplorables would invade Congress, terrorize people and piss and shit all over the place.

[EarlG]

4. CNN has been showing montages of MAGAts at the Capitol "explaining" why they were there

and in every case it has been just... nonsense. Screaming about how they're standing up because something is being taken away from them. They're losing their rights? Blah blah election theft? I dunno. It's just 100% garbage, like their brains don't work properly.

Every time I see these people speaking, it brings to mind all those think pieces I've read over the past four years about how Democrats failed to listen to these people, we just need to listen to their grievances, and understand them.

Well I listened to a bunch of them up at the Capitol over the past 48 hours, and nothing any of them said made any sense. It's like listening to the rantings of a crazy person. There's no understanding it, because there's nothing to understand. They're not living in the real world.

[whathehell]

6. Maybe I'm wrong, but so much of this seems like a lack of critical thinking skills

which, to my understanding, are usually learned in college. If this is the case, I'm wondering why they can't be taught in lthe last year of college. Forgive me if I'm "out of touch", or whatever, I have no children and am going on my own middle 70's, early 80's experience.

[malaise]

9. This is still my favorite

Link to tweet

?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1346967957302292481%7Ctwgr%5E%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.democraticunderground.com%2F100214839625

[LakeVermilion]

10. Right on Point!

I saw these people first hand in northern Minnesota this fall. Driving around in their $80,000 Rams and Ford 250's. Waving those flags that infringe on US flag etiquette. These are the former high school bullies with their cheerleader wives. Each was trying to out do the other: louder trucks, bigger flags.

(What stunned me was that there were 70 million of them. I thought for sure that they would be a reason to not vote for Trump.)

Anyway, my point is: what the hell is making their life tough? They seemed to be living a good financial lifestyle.

[Ninga]

5. Copy, paste, distribute far and wide.

[TheBlackAdder]

7. Their job was to bolster MAGAt profits while scaring everyone else to profit from them as well.

[Orrex]

11. Trump is an ignorant racist fuckhead worshipped by a cult of ignorant racist fuckheads

I’m on record with this for years, since shortly after Clinton coined the too_gentle term “basket of deplorables.”

Anyone who doesn’t see them for the racist shits they are is either willfully blind or is one of them.