UK Media Humbled by Trump/Sanders Victories: ‘Once Objects of Mockery Have Won’

When Senator Ted Cruz won Iowa last week, the British media almost collectively orgasmed: “OMG Trump lost!” This morning was different, with UK media coalescing around the idea that Bernie Sanders and Donald Trump have “shaken up” the Presidential race.

That would be good analysis, were it not almost a year too late. The truth is no one in the establishment media could predict this moment. Journalists have asked me, time and again, “Surely America will come to its senses?” I’ve always answered: “It is. That’s what this is”.

Mainstream figures don’t understand why the “favoured” candidates, Jeb Bush and Hillary Clinton, aren’t being propelled to victory by their charmless centrism. And that’s because most journalists aren’t knowledgeable enough (or old enough) to remember anything before the 2008 election of Barack Obama – a hangover from the “Third Way” of Bill Clinton.

But today, popular news outlets across the country have been forced to admit: the anti-establishment feeling surging through America is no joke.

The BBC leads with: “Both candidates are riding on a wave of discontent with mainstream politics”.

The Independent says: “Outsiders Donald Trump and Bernie Sanders were handsomely rewarded by the voters of New Hampshire on Tuesday night – with predictions handing them huge wins over their establishment rivals”.

The Guardian reports: “Donald Trump, once an object of mockery and scorn by many in the political establishment, has won the New Hampshire Republican primary.”

The Daily Mail notes: “About half [of Republican voters] also said they want the next U.S. president to be someone who comes from outside America’s political ‘establishment.'”

From the Telegraph: “Maverick candidates Trump and Sanders rock US political establishment”.

The Huffington Post UK states: “Both winners peddle a strong ideological message at odds with the country’s political mainstream”.

Westminster’s most establishment magazine, the Spectator even admitted: “Populism won tonight in New Hampshire. Rage against the elite won tonight in New Hampshire”.

But the Murdoch press wasn’t quite as conciliatory, after Mr. Trump declared war against his Fox News Channel by refusing to attend the debate in Iowa.

The Times reports: “Donald Trump won the New Hampshire primary last night – the surest sign yet that voters are ready to put a billionaire former reality TV star with no political experience into the world’s most powerful executive position.”