"America is on the brink, so of course the #media doesn't get it. Last week, the disconnect between rising GOP #fascism - on a debate stage, in #Trump's arrest posturing - and journalists covering 'a normal election' was really jarring
Now what?
The media is really not getting it about 2024, GOP authoritarianism and the election"
If @willbunch wrote it, you should read it.©.. & I thread it. 1/...🧵
2/ "If you watched the hours of TV news coverage during an especially momentous week in August, there was little sense of that reality, and for long stretches of pundit blather, none at all — as talking heads gave earnest high school debating marks to candidates who are all but ignored by the GOP voter base. The disconnect deepened the next night as Trump turned what would surely be his comeuppance —his surrender...― into an outlaw display of authoritarian force."
3/ "..There was little discussion of why this accused felon was getting a phalanx of dozens of motorcycle cops, comprising police who are drawn to Trump’s authoritarian bluster like moths to light. Trump’s glowering mugshot instantly became the most-talked-about picture in American history—yet not one pundit was able to explain why tens of millions of everyday voters are so eager to return to the White House this man who attempted a coup on Jan6, or why his poll numbers rise w each indictment"
4/ "America is entering its most important, pivotal year since 1860 & media doing terrible job explaining what is actually happening. Too many still covering elections like it was 20th cent., as if old touchstones like debates or 30-sec spot still matter.
What we are building toward on 11/5/2024, might have outward trappings of election but it is really show of force. What we call GOP is barely a political party...but a dangerous antisocial movement that has embraced many tenets of fascism"
5/ "There is no “Trump scandal” because — for them — each new crime or sexual assault is merely another indictment of the messenger, the arrogrant elites from whom their contempt is the No. 1 issue. These foot soldiers stopped believing in “democracy” a long time ago — no matter how big an Orwellian sign Fox erects."
6/ "DC pundits like Parker, Baker are trained to talk to folks on stage & their high-priced consultants, not mob that moves modern Repub'ism away from believing in elections. I’ve been inside/outside of Trump rallies in Hershey, West Chester, Wildwood & what I learned is only issue that matters isn’t an issue at all, but contempt for media outlets like CNN they believe look down on them & their savior. Of cs, salary of Baker or Parker or CNN punditocracy depends on not understanding that"
7/ "News media better get comfortable talking about what is really happening in places like Anthony’s Farmville, Va.,ought to be explaining both the legit anger over “working overtime hours for {BS] pay,” manip of that anger by demagogues like Trump, + uncomfortable ques about how much of the rage is over threats to outdated, detestable hierarchies of white supremacy & the patriarchy."
8/" Ramaswamy went on CNN w a dark, rt-wing appeal that is the change that far too many people are seeking, in stunning riff that blamed racist mass shooting in Jacksonville by a white gunman who targeted Black people not on racism but on antiracism & media. Ramaswamy insisted that media, universities, certain politicians have rekindled racism & “I can think of no better way to fuel racism in this country than by taking something away from people based on their skin color.” Meaning white people"
