Media is propelling Trump back to presidency; please stop

By George Schroeder | LTVN Executive Producer

If you ask any Republican, they’ll likely concede at the very least that former President Donald Trump is a very prideful person. So, if you don’t want to see Trump make another attempt at the White House, you should blame the media for keeping him in the headlines.

As speculation grows surrounding GOP presidential candidates, Trump isn’t out of the race — not by a long shot. If he announces his candidacy, no Republican who likes their job will dare to oppose him.

He will win the Republican primary, and depending on his competition in the general election, he’ll have a great shot at another chance in the Oval Office.

I know many Democrats legitimately believe Trump is a “threat to democracy” (which he isn’t). I know many of his supporters soured on him after his poor, unprecedented response to Jan. 6. Even if he were to receive an indictment from all the junk that went down at Mar-a-Lago over the summer, it wouldn’t bar him from holding office, and he would be a very strong candidate.

I don’t want Trump back in the White House, but the media’s constant coverage of him is making his supporters angry. Quite frankly, it’s making people like me angry — angry enough to vote for him again, just to stick it to them.

With record-high inflation, an economy in recession, high gas prices, a border crisis, controversial spending bills, the failures in Afghanistan, the war in Ukraine, more COVID-19 deaths under President Joe Biden and of course low approval ratings for Biden, it’s safe to say Democrats are going to have a hard time this November.

Regardless of whether you hate him or simply don’t want him to run, Trump has a great case to win again.

So what does this have to do with his pride, and for that matter, the media? Since the Jan. 6 committee began hearings in June, the media has been overjoyed to have its daily rant-boosting punching bag back in the spotlight. That problem only got worse once the FBI raided Mar-a-Lago.

Take 45 seconds out of your day and scroll through the “Trump” headlines on Google. You’ll think you’re back in 2018 or 2020 at the peak of the media’s crazed obsession with taking him down.

Headlines like “Why you can’t ignore Trump’s latest threat,” “Another View: Trump’s latest violent, racist rhetoric cues usual Republican crickets” and “Donald Trump is (still) very unpopular” are taking over the media.

If you don’t think the recent abundance of biased “orange man bad” coverage will help Trump win the White House in 2024, you’re dead wrong.

Sure, he is earning himself a portion of that coverage, but the media can’t help itself. It’s far better to focus on Trump before the midterm elections than to focus on the unpopular administration that actually has power.

The media is trying to tie the entire GOP to who it considers the most radical member of the party it can find. Its own radical imbalance and far-left-leaning bias is showing again.

If you want Republicans to vote for someone new in 2024, then you need Trump to take a step back. With a constant spotlight on him, that isn’t going to happen.

Democrats want the GOP to flop in the midterms, and they think connecting them all with Trump is the way to do it. Maybe that strategy will work out, but it’s entirely possible it won’t. Even if it does, the same strategy aimed at tanking the GOP will be the one to propel Trump to the presidency.

The strategy only works as long as the media goes along with it. My suggestion is to do the country a favor and stop.

George Schroeder is a senior at Baylor University majoring in journalism. Currently the only student on his 4th year with the Lariat, he is the executive producer for Lariat TV News, he has worked as the managing editor, a broadcast reporter and an anchor for the program. In 2022 he was named the Baylor Department of Student Media’s “Broadcaster of the Year” and the inaugural winner of the Rick Bradfield Award for Breaking News Coverage. During his time with the Lariat, he has served as a member of the Editorial Board, a sportswriter and an opinion writer. He is a contracted cadet in the Air Force Reserve Officer Training Corps and will commission as an officer into the United States Air Force after graduation in 2024.