Sometimes things end with a whimper rather than a bang. In the nearly two years since Donald Trump lost the 2020 election, the would-be-strongman has done everything in his power to keep himself in the spotlight and to fuel a sense of inevitability that he will be the GOP’s standard-bearer in the 2024 presidential election.
Now, in the wake of Congress’s ongoing January 6 hearings, Trump’s lock on the right, and his ability to commandeer undying loyalty from conservative media organs, may finally be corroding. With this change in how he is portrayed, Trump’s hold on the foot soldiers of the conservative and far right movements entirely in his thrall may be weakening.
Last week, after the congressional hearing detailing how for three hours Trump refused to activate any military or law enforcement responses to the invasion of the Capitol, and how even afterwards he found it all but impossible to speak words of condemnation about January 6, Rupert Murdoch’s newspapers and television stations began quietly, but very definitely, turning against him. Given the extraordinary power and reach of the Murdoch empire, and its long-tested ability to make and break political leaders, this was a huge moment.
The New York Post, which was one of Trump’s longtime media cheerleaders, editorialized that Trump’s purpose on January 6 was to “find any means — damn the consequences — to block the peaceful transfer of power.” This was an action worthy of “eternal shame” for Trump, the editorial continued. As a result, it concluded, “Trump has proven himself unworthy to be this country’s chief executive again.”
The editorial pages of the Wall Street Journal explained to readers that, “Mr. Trump took an oath to defend the Constitution, and he had a duty as Commander in Chief to protect the Capitol from a mob attacking it in his name. He refused.” The editorial reached strikingly similar conclusions to that in the Post. “Character is revealed in a crisis, and Mr. Pence passed his Jan. 6 trial. Mr. Trump utterly failed his.”
Media Mogul Murdoch Dumps Trump for DeSantis. How Will This Impact the Election? (truthout.org)