Mediaite: Trump Declares ‘War on Fun’

A new 15-second Instagram ad from the Trump campaign contrasts troubling news from around the world with President Obama’s well known obsession with golf. Its a pretty conventional ad, but, because it involves the highly-clickable Donald Trump, Matt Wilstein at Mediaite tries to turn the tables on the real estate magnate.

“Trump Declares War on ‘Fun'” declares the hacktastic headline. “If Donald Trump ever decides to abandon his ‘Make America Great Again’ slogan, he could try adopting, ‘Stop Having Fun,'” snarks Wilstein.

Right. That is exactly what Trump’s ad is about.

On the one hand, it is easy to dismiss Trump as not a serious candidate. There are myriad reasons to make that statement. Part of the reason he is dominating the polls, though, is that much of the political media is even less serious.

Wilstein’s quip wouldn’t make it past a county-level Democrat party talking point. Because he can put his snark on a “national” news site, though, it gets injected into our nation’s political commentary.

If political reporters simply become a clown posse, it can’t be all that surprising that a candidate whom many consider to be a clown would dominate political coverage.

In truth, the only person being serious in this whole exchange is Trump. One doesn’t have to be a conservative to have some trepidation reading world news these days. China has launched a currency war, our Middle East policy, such that it exists, is dependent on angels suddenly taking power in Iran. Our sphere of influence is narrowing in the world, as other countries decide to chart their own course independent of the U.S.

One year ago, President Obama was roundly criticized by pundits of every political stripe for hitting the golf course immediately after public comments on the beheading of an American citizen by ISIS. At that time, Obama had already played 8 times more rounds of golf than his predecessor, George W. Bush.

For reporters like Wilstein, Obama was apparently just getting some well-deserved R&R. Criticizing a move that most Americans saw as tone deaf is, to Wilstein, just more raining on the “fun” parade.

So, sure, Trump’s ad criticizing Obama’s golf priority is a war on “fun.” Mr. Wilstein’s snark, then, is a war on “maturity.”