Trump's Extremism Can't Just Be a Footnote

The press is failing us once again.

Hey, readers. Parker here.

Over at

Long Lead Presents: Depth Perception

, a newsletter I co-write with

Mark Yarm

, I had the pleasure of interviewing NBC News senior reporter Brandy Zadrozny about her career, the future of journalism, and the challenges of misinformation. Check that out here:

"Everybody stinks. Don't stink, and you'll be fine."

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And over at Dame Magazine, I wrote a piece about the press’ unwillingness to treat Donald Trump’s extremist rhetoric and policy goals with the seriousness they deserve. Here’s an excerpt from that:

Trump’s reliance on false, extreme and apocalyptic rhetoric needs to be the story, not just a footnote in a story about “Clashing Visions for America’s Future.”

Failure to confront these narratives head-on leaves the public unprepared for the potential outcomes of a Trump victory in November. It’s not just about the return of a controversial figure to the White House; it’s about what his presidency would signify and enable: the further erosion of democratic institutions, the oppression of millions of people, and the potential for violence.

As we inch closer to the November election, the press must reassess its role in covering Trump. It’s not enough to simply report what he says; there must be a concerted effort to contextualize, analyze, and push back on false information. The public depends on the press not just for information but for the tools to critically engage with that information. Without this, democracy cannot function.

In the end, the normalization of extreme rhetoric is a choice, one that the media and the public must consciously reject. Only by acknowledging the gravity of Trump’s words and their potential impact can we hope to navigate the challenges ahead. It’s a difficult task, but the alternative—a society numbed to extremism and blind to its consequences—is much worse.

Below, for paid subscribers, I’ll offer a few additional thoughts on the topic.

Photo by Tom Pennington/Getty Images

Why is the press so obsessed with there being a Trump “pivot”?

Back in 2020, when I worked at Media Matters for America, I wrote a piece about this titled, “Journalists have been obsessing over Trump supposedly changing his ‘tone’ for five years.” We even put together a neat supercut of journalists talking about Trump “changing his tone” and “pivoting.” CNN’s Dana Bash, who was featured heavily in the video, even blocked me on Twitter over it. Ha.

But that article and video could just as easily be updated to read, “…changing his ‘tone’ for nine years” with how bad some recent coverage has been.