Mainstream journalists are beginning to circle the wagons, pledging to themselves— and to the public at large—that they will no longer give airtime to Donald Trump’s constant stream of social media proclamations.
They’re claiming that Trump’s Twitter missives are meant to foment fear in an agitated populace and increase his stranglehold on power he won’t even have until later this month. His North Korea “nuclear weapons” tweet yesterday, especially, they claimed, put America on the precipice of nuclear war.
And, all my Twitter colleagues, we need to stop rising to his bait. This tweet doesn't say anything at all. Don't project into it. pic.twitter.com/bIOTI8vRlD
— Cheryl Rofer (@CherylRofer) January 2, 2017
It's meant to generate @WSJ and other media headlines ie "Trump eyes NK nuke threat to US," which spreads fear, keeps his followers on edge. https://t.co/HGdNtNkFUC
— Joy Reid (@JoyAnnReid) January 2, 2017
David Brooks even sobbed for more than 800 words, accusing “Snapchat President” Trump of being shallow in policy, dangerous with an iPhone, and lacking in accountability.
But even amid the media’s handwringing over Trump’s tweets, the president-elect was frightening others with his social media prowess—and in ways that the mainstream media wholeheartedly approved of.
When a small group of House Republicans voted to cripple the Office of Congressional Ethics in a late-night, holiday meeting before Congress convened on January 3, media sources were clamoring for an outcry from House leadership.
3. Also, as the GOP LEADERSHIP, they can publicly encourage others to oppose these new ethics rules https://t.co/EQxrveTuLZ
— Judd Legum (@JuddLegum) January 3, 2017
Only to get the outcry from President-elect Donald Trump.
With all that Congress has to work on, do they really have to make the weakening of the Independent Ethics Watchdog, as unfair as it
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 3, 2017
……..may be, their number one act and priority. Focus on tax reform, healthcare and so many other things of far greater importance! #DTS
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 3, 2017
Suddenly, a certain panic set in again, and mainstream media sources and high-profile leftists began a sharp reversal on exactly how powerful Trump’s Twitter feed could be.
Trump isn’t telling Republicans to save the OCE. He’s telling them to gut it later, under the cover of bigger news. https://t.co/gmgMRdKHp1
— Brian Beutler (@brianbeutler) January 3, 2017
House Republicans reversed their plan to gut an ethics office, after intense criticism from Donald Trump and others https://t.co/uEKFLtkwaM
— The New York Times (@nytimes) January 3, 2017
First victory! House switchboard jammed with calls from citizens opposed to Republicans killing its Ethics Office. Repubs & Trump back off.
— Michael Moore (@MMFlint) January 3, 2017
Except, of course, where the mainstream media was accusing Trump of playing power politics, wielding his intense command over Twitter to shame House Republicans in a daring—and worrying —display of populist control.
Trump just showed that he will throw House Republicans under the bus to make himself look good https://t.co/Hp91hQgjtZ via @voxdotcom
— Emily R. West (@emwest22) January 3, 2017
And that was just from developments in the early afternoon. The media was also conflicted on whether Trump’s Tweet to GM, warning them that importing the Mexican-made Chevy Cruz would result in hefty tariffs if they did not relocate their production to the U.S., forced Ford to announce it was keeping operations in Michigan instead of opening a new overseas plant.
Ford informed "the president-elect and the VP-elect this morning." NOW you know the context for Trump's 7:30am tweet about Ford's rival GM
— Brian Stelter (@brianstelter) January 3, 2017
Ford denies that they moved ahead with their domestic-based expansion plan because Trump had threatened its competitors, and the media sprang quickly back into action to declare Trump an ineffective charlatan.
High level source within Ford tells NBC Trump had nothing to do w/ decision to expand production, hire employees https://t.co/UuaeTxzZZS
— Kyle Griffin (@kylegriffin1) January 3, 2017
Folks: Trump has nothing to do with Ford decision. Small car production reason for shift as NYT reported in OCTOBER. https://t.co/P1GI2tKhSU
— Matt McDermott (@mattmfm) January 3, 2017
It must get awfully confusing.