Note that in a report Monday night on the wave of hate crimes in the U.S., CBS Evening News made absolutely no mention of Trump's hate rhetoric and his consistently racist attacks. For CBS, not only is there no link between Trump's constant hate speech and the violence, but the topic doesn't even have to be addressed. Quick reminder that during a May rally, Trump joked about the idea of shooting migrants and asylum seekers who try to cross the southern border, while pushing a conspiracy theory about migrants representing an “invasion” of the country. But now that all gets flushed down the memory hole.
CBS was hardly alone in doing its best to prop up Trump following the white nationalist terror attack in El Paso. An early print edition of The New York Times' Tuesday newspaper carried this banner, feel-good headline: "Trump urges unity vs. racism." It was soon changed, but the fact that the Times treated Trump's utterly forgettable and hollow speech as a major news story simply highlighted how desperately committed the newspaper is to normalizing him; to pretend he's just like all our other presidents during times of crisis.
Meanwhile, from The Washington Post came this headline: "Trump says white supremacy and sinister ideologies ‘must be defeated.’ Will he lead the way?" Keep in mind that we are halfway through 2019. It’s just not credible that working journalists, and especially those at The Washington Post, who have been watching Trump operate for more than two years as president, are genuinely considering the idea he will soon "lead" the nation in a fight against racism in this country. They're wondering if Trump, who spent years questioning the birthright status of Barack Obama, who started his campaign by declaring Mexicans to be rapists, who recently compared Baltimore residents to rodents and migrants to invaders, will "lead" on the issue of hateful attacks against people of color? There doesn't seem to be much mystery, just lots of journalists pretending that Trump is better than he actually is.
There's a reason that within the hate-filled manifesto written by the white supremacist killer who gunned down 50 people in New Zealand was the proclamation that Trump represents an international "symbol of renewed white identity and common purpose." Trump is now regularly referenced by white nationalist terrorists.
We are in completely uncharted territory as a nation, and the White House press corps refuses to adjust. Instead, we get reports like the ones from CBS News, the Times, and the Post, which do everything in their power to normalize Trump and present him as a mournful caretaker.
Eric Boehlert is a veteran progressive writer and media analyst, formerly with Media Matters and Salon. He is the author of Lapdogs: How the Press Rolled Over for Bush and Bloggers on the Bus. You can follow him on Twitter @EricBoehlert.
This post was written and reported through our Daily Kos freelance program.
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