Donald Trump’s landslide victory upended a number of media narratives about the former and soon-to-be next president. While the media has, for years, described Trump as the avatar of rageful white, rural, older voters, his increasing popularity with minority voters paints a starkly different picture.
Besides just challenging the narratives around Trump, this latest election proved that the top voices in TV and print media do not understand the motivations behind swayable voters and their decision to vote against Kamala Harris. The election results demonstrate that their willful ignorance comes with a cost.
Rachel Maddow, whose nightly news program draws the highest audience on MSNBC, accused American voters of deliberately voting in a “strongman” and choosing to “end our multi-racial pluralistic democracy.”
This narrative is common in the mainstream media, with many refusing to believe that voters of all races and ethnicities prioritize issues like inflation and illegal migration instead of reflexively joining the Democratic coalition of non-white voters.
A New York Times opinion columnist even argued that the Democratic Party must “double down” on identity politics, implying that the modern political landscape is merely a power struggle between competing racial groups.
Some of the more reflective Democrats, like Rep. Seth Moulton (D-MA), drew controversy for pushing back against the Democratic Party’s obsession with “trying not to offend anyone,” specifically calling out the left’s preoccupation with transgenderism.
Across left-wing media, from MSNBC to CNN to The View, Trump voters — including black and Latino voters — have been mocked and condescended to, with little recognition that many felt left behind by the Biden-Harris administration’s unpopular policies.
They also misunderstand the historic gender gap in this election, accusing men of not wanting to vote for any woman president. In reality, conservative men have historically supported many women, like Nikki Haley and Sarah Palin.
Further, women under 30 shifted 11 points toward Trump in this election. If men hate strong women, women must also hate strong women — according to the media’s logic.
