The media has a 'coping mechanism' for Trump — and it's 'dangerous': analysis

Bulwark Editor Jonathan Last believes he’s uncovered the media’s "coping mechanism" for dealing with a madman, and is warning that it's deadly and dangerous.

“The media tends to treat [President Donald] Trump’s more insane statements as ephemeral, but then turns around and treats his climb-downs as binding,” said Last. “For instance: Trump can say a dozen times that he might run for a third term and the media reports it as ‘Trump said this crazy thing about running again.’ But then Trump gives one interview where he says he won’t run again and the coverage is: ‘Trump rules out third term.’

Last has plenty of examples to pull from, including headlines like: “In Davos speech, Trump rules out using military force to take Greenland” by Axios, and “Trump rules out using force to acquire Greenland” by Politico. There’s also: “Trump backs off tariff threats, rules out military force over Greenland,” by CBS News, and similar declaration of unwarranted sanity from other news sites.

“You get the picture. But did Trump actually rule it out?” asked Last. “By which I mean: Trump said a bunch of words. Do those words equal an official binding policy position for the president of the United States?”

The truth of the matter is if everything Trump says is just “positioning and an ongoing negotiation” then nothing he says “can ever be taken at face value,” argues Last. Trump has not truly “ruled out” the use of force as media distributors report. It’s just words Trump said — all of which can be “abandoned, reversed, or ignored at any point.”

So, why does the media treat Trump’s sane statements as law and his outlandish remarks with a smirk?

“Every organization has its own reasons. But in general, I think it’s a coping mechanism born of the reality that the mainstream media was not built to deal with an aspiring authoritarian force,” said Last. “They cannot believe what is happening around them and so, whenever something that feels normal, safe, or sane comes out of Trump’s mouth, they treat it as if that’s the real policy while everything else was just noise.”

“This is a mistake,” said Last, “and a dangerous one. Because it misrepresents our fundamental reality. It’s a form of sane-washing. And while it may be comforting to reporters and editors, it contributes to the authoritarian’s progress.”