Let’s imagine, in an alternative universe, that the
media were as sympathetic to Donald Trump as they were to Barack Obama
right after his election.
The coverage might look something like this:
President-elect Trump has shown himself to be
surprisingly inclusive in reaching out to former rivals who bitterly
criticized him, including Mitt Romney, who called him a “fraud,” Nikki
Haley, who questioned his disavowal of the KKK, and Rick Perry, who
dubbed him a “cancer on conservatism.”
President-elect Trump has called a temporary truce in
his rhetorical war on the media, even venturing to the much-derided New
York Times and describing the newspaper as a “jewel.”
President-elect Trump has shown striking flexibility
in rethinking some of campaign promises, abandoning his support for
waterboarding, declaring an open mind on climate change and walking away
from overheated threats to have Hillary Clinton prosecuted. He also
agreed to keep two key parts of ObamaCare.
Even before taking the oath, he appears to be growing into the job.
Now of course such positive assessments would have to
be balanced with more critical ones. One man’s post-election evolution
is another man’s blatant flip-flop. A Politico headline: “15 Trump Flip-Flops in 15 Days.”
But the positive analyses are, shall we say, muted.
Let’s face it, almost no one in the media expected Trump to win, and few are giving him the benefit of the doubt.
I never believed that Trump, if he won, would seek a
special prosecutor after Clinton had already been cleared by the FBI. It
would look like he was seeking revenge against a rival at a time when
he’d have far bigger problems to tackle.
There has been some legitimate focus on
disappointment on the right after all those “Lock Her Up” rallies.
Breitbart, Steve Bannon’s former outfit, ran a “Broken Promise”
headline. But more common are a bunch of Should-Hillary-Be-Jailed-Or-Not
cable segments.
Similarly, Trump’s evolving views on some issues have either been played down or drawn left-handed compliments, as in this column by CNN’s Fareed Zakaria:
“One might wonder why he didn’t have that
conversation during the campaign or why he pounded home the opposite
views on all these topics for a year and a half. But at this point, it
doesn’t matter. Trump is president-elect. We should all hope that he
flip-flops some more.” The liberal Zakaria had earlier called Trump a
“cancer on American democracy.”
From the right, Trump critic Kathleen Parker goes off
on “Donald Trump’s many campaign lies. What else can one call the
promises that he now treats as alien concepts?” Though she admits she’s
happier with his new positions.
As for Trump trying to bring establishment
Republicans into his tent, the press gave him some credit on Romney for
an hour or two. But now the coverage is all about whether Romney critics
and Rudy Giuliani fans can derail his nomination as secretary of State.
That’s a legitimate story, and the best horse race we have at the
moment. But it’s still incredible that Mitt is even in the running.
And it’s equally amazing that Nikki Haley, who was so critical of Trump during the campaign, was tapped as U.N. ambassador.
Other big media narratives at the moment:
Should Trump divest himself of his real estate empire
to avoid conflicts of interest? That’s a thorny question, and some of
his properties were promoted, rather than hidden, during the campaign.
But the truth is it would take years to sell off his hotels and golf
courses, even if he wanted to. Still, the New York Times yesterday ran a zillion-word lead story on the subject.
Should Jared Kushner play a role in his
administration? There was much teeth-gnashing about whether Trump
tapping his son-in-law would violate a nepotism law, but nothing
prevents the president-elect from using him in an informal role. There
are questions about his complete lack of government or diplomatic
experience, but Kushner did help manage a winning presidential campaign.
Should there be a recount in Wisconsin (and Michigan
and Pennsylvania)? Trump has ripped Jill Stein’s fundraising as a “scam”
and chided the Clinton campaign for cooperating, even though she didn’t
seek the recount and claims no evidence of foul play. But the story is
somewhat overplayed because it won’t change who presides over the
inauguration in January.
I am all for aggressive coverage of new presidents.
The relationship between the media and an incoming leader of the free
world should always be adversarial. But anyone who thinks Trump is being
covered the way President-elect Obama was has a very short memory.
Howard Kurtz is a Fox News analyst and the host of "MediaBuzz" (Sundays 11 a.m. and 5 p.m. ET). He is the author of five books and is based in Washington. Follow him at @HowardKurtz. Click here for more information on Howard Kurtz.