The Trump Factor: Why Hijacking the Media Is So Damn Easy
After a year of national gridlock that ended on the precipice of a cliff, Donald Trump went nuclear.
The man who called Barack Obama’s reelection a travesty said Republicans could gain control of the budget showdown because they “are sitting there with a nuclear weapon”: the specter of voting against a rise in the debt ceiling early next year. In other words, the GOP could get its way by again threatening to push the country into default.
The remarkable thing here is not Trump’s apocalyptic advice but that the man who still doesn’t concede that the president was born in Hawaii draws attention no matter what he says. The colorful developer has a knack for hijacking the media—and he’s hardly alone.
In fact, one of the most striking developments in recent years is how easy it is to carry out the hijacking. You don’t need a weapon, nuclear or otherwise. You don’t have to be a famous zillionaire to pull it off. In the Twitter age, almost anyone can capture the spotlight for 15 seconds.
We’re so easy. If it’s new, novel or naughty, we are there.
A critical mass of tweeters hijacked the presidential debates by turning Big Bird and “binders full of women” into trending topics. What, you thought what was most important was what the candidates said during those 90-minute faceoffs? Nope, it’s just as much about winning the post-game chatter. A single “oops” by Rick Perry enables the press to wipe out everything else that was said.
Clint Eastwood, telling Obama (in the guise of an empty chair) to perform an anatomically impossible act? That hijacked Mitt Romney’s convention.
Eric Fehrnstrom inadvertently hijacked his boss’ campaign when he compared the Romney venture to an Etch a Sketch. Nothing like a kids’ toy to seize the attention of grownup journalists.
Any invocation of a celebrity has great hijacking potential, even if the story is a sprinkling of fairy dust. The political press recently surrendered to the notion that Ben Affleck might run for John Kerry’s Senate seat in Massachusetts. This was based on nothing more than local chatter, amplified by Politico. Affleck shrewdly kept the door ajar—such speculation helps in the gravitas department—but on Christmas Eve he gave the press a lump of coal by admitting he wasn’t running.
Read more at CNN.com
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