Former President Donald Trump is back on the rally circuit, and while many people are trying to ignore him, that may not be the best approach. During Martin Luther King, Jr. weekend, Trump took center stage in Arizona and did his best to encourage disenfranchising the state’s voters.
Donald Trump: “The radical Democrats are also currently waging an unprecedented attack on voting rights… Their scheme has always been to erase American votes with illegal votes and now they are doing so openly.“
One of the most striking aspects of Trump’s rally was how little attention it got from the media, even his usual fans.
None of the major networks – including Fox – covered it live, and even post-rally mentions were in pretty short supply.
Now, on a personal note, this makes me very happy. I am so very sick of listening to this guy’s voice, and I’m so very grateful that my favorite late-night talk show hosts have mostly stopped imitating him.
Stephen Colbert: “Because I ain’t no longer doing an impression of that guy anymore.”
This shift in Trump’s coverage is just the latest shift in his apparently shrinking platform. Twitter and Facebook have already booted him from those platforms and he’s taken most of his rants to websites like OAN and Newsmax which really only cater to his base. Even people who hear him on OAN are about to see less of him because DirecTV is dropping the channel.
For a take on why this lack of attention may not be a good thing, here’s former Trump aide Alyssa Griffin:
“Yes, the former president has lost steam and legacy media, but what I would not discredit is how much these sort of fringie-er sites, how much viewership they are getting… We are going to regret it if we think that he is not coming back, and we don’t prepare accordingly, and we don’t cover these incredible, terrifying lies that he was spouting last night. Those do warrant getting coverage because they tell you what he’s planning to do in the months ahead, in the year ahead.”
She makes a really good point. Trump is still the top guy in the Republican party and the likely nominee in 2024 if he decides to make another run for the White House.
He still has a voice – and a powerful one at that – and as much as it pains me to say, we ignore it at our own peril.
