To Fight Donald Trump, the Media Contemplates Vast Censorship
The sheer impressiveness of Donald Trump’s Election Day victory continues to grow, with the former president winning not just all of the swing states, but probably the popular vote, the Senate, and possibly even the House of Representatives. Trump also exercises much greater control over his party than he did previously. This is an utter rout for the Democratic Party, and one that will clear the way for the implementation of GOP policy goals on a scale hitherto undreamt of (at least since 2004).
Democratic officials and pundits know that this is bad, though not all of them are willing to admit that the main fault lies with their candidate, Vice President Kamala Harris. If she does not deserve all of the blame, it is only because she shares it with President Joe Biden, whose stubborn decision to seek reelection despite his advanced age and declining cognitive abilities compromised both of their candidacies. Various commentators have lashed out, not at Harris, but at Americans.
MSNBC’s Joy Reid, for instance, maintained that Harris’s campaign was historic and “flawlessly run” because…Queen Latifah endorsed Harris. Seriously:
JOY REID: Kamala Harris was a “historic, flawlessly run” campaign pic.twitter.com/sJMhcfVYxO
— HOT SPOT (@HotSpotHotSpot) November 6, 2024
Kamala Harris did not fail the American people; the voters failed Kamala Harris. They also failed Queen Latifah, one supposes.
The explanation that Harris lost because the voters are too racist to accept her will always have a certain amount of appeal among the progressive pundit class. Of course, this theory runs into obvious trouble: Harris seemingly lost ground with virtually every demographic, including black and Latino voters. As for the argument that the electorate is biased against woman candidates, there may be some underlying truth to that—but it’s important to note that Harris lost even more spectacularly than Hillary Clinton. Either the voters became much more sexist—not entirely persuasive—or there is something else going on.
X Marks the Spot
What is that other thing? The explanation likely to receive star billing from progressives is an increasingly familiar one: social media misinformation. MSNBC host Jen Psaki cited the dangers of disinformation and propaganda on X—the site run by ardent Trump backer, adviser, and billionaire Elon Musk—as a reason to fear Musk’s influence over Trump. And earlier in the week, before she knew Harris would lose, Psaki advised Democrats to take action against social media companies in order to “limit the lies that they can spread.”
The hosts of The View sounded a similar note on their postelection episode.
“It would help if we could regulate social media,” said Sara Haines. “DC and Congress have not been able to do one thing in regard to the rogue corporations of social media.”
The View: We must censor
Article from Reason.com
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