Establishment Media Admit Donald Trump Still Remains ‘Dominant Force’ After January 6

Donald Trump
MANDEL NGAN/AFP
Wendell Husebø

The establishment media admitted former President Trump still remains the undisputed leader of the Republican Party one year after January 6.

While the establishment media’s readership has collapsed up to 48 percent without Trump’s presidency, the nation’s largest news outlets have declared Trump remains a political powerhouse to be reckoned with heading into the 2022 and 2024 election cycles.

The New York Times published an article Thursday morning titled, “A Year Later, Jan. 6 Becomes Just Another Wedge in a Divided Nation.”

The article praises Trump for remaining the “dominant force in his party” while being the most “viable candidate to reclaim the White House in three years.”

The article continues in light of Trump’s consistent messaging on January 6:

But the extent to which Mr. Trump has shaped the narrative, at least within his own party, would have defied belief a year ago when leaders on both sides of the aisle were seething with indignation at what he had unleashed. At the time, even allies thought Mr. Trump had forever sullied his name in the history books, as indicated by the subsequent investigation.

The Washington Post posted on top of its homepage Thursday morning the headline, “How the GOP became the party of Trump’s election lie after Jan. 6.”

The Post suggested the Republican Party looks to Trump to forward the American First agenda, shaping the party in his image to retake the House in the 2022 midterms:

The answers underscore just how thoroughly Trump has remade the party in the image of his own false claims. The former president has spent the past year endorsing candidates who have embraced his view of widespread voter fraud, in some cases burrowing into even hyperlocal legislative races.

Among Trump supporters, the former president’s endorsement remains coveted, and that often means professing support for his baseless claims. One prominent Republican consultant who has advised clients on getting Trump’s endorsement said he increasing counsels candidates to walk a fine line.

Business Insider reported Thursday that despite the media’s claims that Trump incited a mob to attack the Capitol, Trump has “reclaimed his influence in the GOP,” citing Trump’s “recovered” approval rating.

Trump has simultaneously reclaimed his influence in the GOP. In the immediate aftermath of Jan. 6 2021, Trump’s approval rating sank to the lowest of any outgoing US president. But his approval numbers have since recovered and he’s regained a firm grip on his party, whose leaders rarely publicly contradict or criticize him. The GOP’s reputation among its own voters has also bounced back.

The media’s acknowledgment of Trump’s position within the GOP comes as the publications have lost many readers and presumably money in a sector with tight margins. Breitbart News reported in December:

The Hill, Washington Post, New York Times, Politico, Wall Street Journal, CNN, and Vox Media have lost a large percentage of monthly unique visitors since Trump led the nation, according to Comscore data cited by the Journal.

…

Politico’s readership has reportedly declined the greatest amount at 48 percent. The Post‘s page views are reportedly fewer by 28 percent, followed by the Times at 15 percent, then the Journal and Vox Media at nine percent.

But the media’s declining readership was predicted by Trump.

“Newspapers, television, all forms of media will tank if I’m not there,” Trump said in 2017. “Because without me, their ratings are going down the tubes.”

Follow Wendell Husebø on Twitter @WendellHusebø

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