The truth catches up with Trump
The GOP’s midterm meltdown has me thinking about truth — and the notion that the Trump presidency ushered in a post-truth era.
Trump has certainly tried to impose his own reality, calling real news “fake,” real polls “hoaxes,” and affordability a “fake word” invented by his enemies. He’s banned reporters from the White House and tried to punish media organizations.
But truth is like the “political gravity” we keep hearing about. And the election results make the truth harder to ignore.
Like the truth about Trump’s unpopularity. Until Tuesday night, “you could at least argue that Trump’s low popularity was a mirage, a reflection of polls that weren’t capturing his real supporters,” Nate Silver wrote.
On the stump, Trump cast doubt on those polls. In an interview with Byron York, he imagined that 60% of voters were on his side.
The election results make it easier for everyone to see through his face-saving claims.
And what about election denialism? For months, there were concerns that Trump and his allies would refuse to certify the midterm results if Republicans lost, sparking a constitutional crisis.
But after Tuesday’s rout, Trump said he would accept the losses — and the MAGA ecosystem generally has, too.
“MAGA media personalities are not happy about the election results, but they are accepting that they lost,” Donie O’Sullivan explained in this CNN video. “The focus of MAGA now is not on election denial but who to blame for these losses.”
More on that in a moment. My sense is that this election has pierced some political echo chambers, at least temporarily, and reaffirmed a shared reality in the US.
What’s one phrase that Trump hasn’t used after the GOP romp? “Fake news.”
Maybe we’re not quite “post-truth” as a country, after all.
After all, for the past year-plus, news outlets have published a seemingly endless series of stories about Trump’s conflicts of interest, his self-enrichment, his family’s business dealings and his allies’ questionable conduct. Reporters sometimes wondered if the stories made everyone’s eyes just glaze over.
Tuesday’s results give reason to reconsider that. According to the CNN voter poll, which asked about the importance of government corruption to your vote, the issue was “crucial” to 55% of voters and a “major” factor for another 36%.