Opinion: TV news is awash in election post-mortems. I wonder if we'll survive
And now the questions begin.
How did Donald Trump win the presidential election? Why didn't Joe Biden drop out of the race earlier, or not run at all? Should Kamala Harris have done more, or everything differently? The answers varied, depending on which network you watched the morning after Election Day — the gloating on Fox News was already hard to stomach.
In many ways, despite how the election results may wholly reshape American life if Trump follows through on his threats — and there's no reason to believe he won't at least try — it was business as usual. Media organizations are like huge cruise ships; it takes a pretty big iceberg to make them change course.
One question about Trump's election looms above all others
The post-mortems will continue for a long time. But one question looms over all the others, and no one was asking it directly.
Will we survive this?
Probably. I certainly hope so. And I think media plays an important role in that survival.
Americans are a resilient bunch. But it's worth noting what Trump has said he will do in a second term, surrounded by more willing accomplices than in his first, and the possibility of a Republican-controlled House and Senate. He promises mass deportations, attacks on the media and revenge on his political enemies.
Early morning on Nov. 6, Jake Tapper on CNN said, "I know that there are those that think this is a manifestation of ugliness among their fellow Americans, that this is a vote for bigotry and this is a vote for misogyny, this is a vote for racism, etc.," but that people had their reasons for supporting Trump and those should be considered.
Chris Wallace said he agreed with Tapper for the most part, with one exception: "This is a man who would get up in rallies and say, 'I am your retribution.'"
Believe him when he says so.
Believe Trump's threats
It's certainly worth keeping in mind. Front of mind. And it's already started, even if in subtle ways.
Kellyanne Conway, the former Trump aide who coined the phrase "alternative facts" to explain away Trump's lies during his first term, was a Fox News contributor on election night. While her fellow panelists talked about the glory of a Trump political comeback — Dana Perino said Harris should have conceded before other networks had called the race, even though Trump still hasn't conceded the 2020 election — Conway struck a different note.
She was worried about how Harris supporters would react, she said. Would there be violence? She used words like "unhinged." Say what? She never mentioned that Trump supporters were the ones who attacked the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. Democrats weren't the ones saying they wouldn't accept election results.
Then it dawned on me: It's projection, pure and simple. Trump and his supporters excel at it. Trump has promised retribution, and this is how it starts.
And we have to reconcile the fact that a lot of people are fine with it.
"His campaign spewed a lot of racism, misogyny, xenophobia, but voters seemed to overlook all of that," Ana Cabrera said on MSNBC. "Why did that seemingly become acceptable in America?"
Her guest, W. Kamau Bell, said, "Respectfully, I don't think voters overlooked it. I think voters ran toward it."
Exactly.
Social media was like a post-apocalyptic reckoning
Social media — with the exception of X, which Elon Musk has turned into his own personal Trump-promotional platform on his way to becoming chief budget slasher or whatever he's going to be — was a sea of misery. Doomscrolling is one thing. This was more like a post-apocalyptic reckoning.
People are upset. They're also scared. Yet some are also gleeful. While MSNBC mourned the results, Bill Hemmer was on Fox News asking guests how long it would take Trump to lower gas prices below $2.
We are, as has been noted a time or two, a nation divided. The future is uncertain, no matter which political side you're on. The media, despite almost certain harassment and interference, has to keep that in mind.
Journalists have to hold Trump to account. If he lies, say so. If he oversteps bounds, say so. Resist intimidation. Treat misinformation like poison. Honesty in the face of resistance is essential, now more than ever.
That is, of course, always the job of journalists. But we have now arrived in a different landscape, media and otherwise. This is how we have to move forward.
This is how we survive.
Reach Goodykoontz at bill.goodykoontz@arizonarepublic.com.