It is certain, as of now, that the “liberal” US media got it wrong again in 2020 — despite their repeated claims of trying to come out of the 2016 fiasco. In 2016, the possibility of Donald Trump’s election to the White House was completely ignored by most of the mainstream media. Hillary Clinton, the former US state secretary, was almost announced by them as the next president of the country. But then Trump, surprisingly, was able to get into the White House leaving all the major pollsters, political commentators and the mainstream media in shock.

This time the “liberal” US media chose Joe Biden, who served as the vice-president under the Barack Obama administration, as the clear winner. It was predicted that the former vice-president would become the next president of the country with a landslide victory. It was told that there would be a strong repudiation of Donald Trump and there would be a strong Blue wave across the country.

However, it is now clear that there is no strong Blue wave across America. This is despite the fact that Trump mishandled the coronavirus pandemic, a huge advantage for Biden and the Democrats. Trump, who for the last 4 years has been facing criticism continuously from the “liberal” mainstream media, has been able to get, as of now, more than 7 million votes this time compared to what he got in the 2016 elections. Not only this, the Democrats were hopeful to gain a majority in the Senate, dominated by the Republicans. But it seems they failed. On the other hand, the Republicans, surprisingly, gained at least five seats in the House of Representatives, dominated by the Democrats — who are now going to control the House with a slim majority.

True that many of Trump’s comments, some very outrageous ones, didn’t suit him as the president. So, the mainstream “liberal” media was absolutely right in condemning his unsuited behaviour at the White House. But this doesn’t explain how Trump has been able to expand the base of the Republican Party.

Trump, who is most often labelled a bigot by the “liberal” media, managed to increase his vote share among the Hispanics and even the Black voters. He is projected to have got 12 per cent support from Black voters, according to the Edison Research. This is an increase of 4 per cent support compared to 2016. Among the Hispanics, the projection of Trump’s support is 32 per cent — an increase of 6 per cent compared to that of 2016. Not only this, Trump successfully wrestled the Florida state, which was forecasted as a favourable state for the Biden camp, with the help of Cuban and Venezuelan Americans — who shifted towards Republican Party despising Democratic Party’s recent pro-socialist tilt.

Also, the exit polls suggest that for 35 per cent of the voters, economy was the main priority — second was racial inequality which was the priority of 20 per cent of the voters. Importantly, those voters for whom economy was the main concern, Trump was their clear favourite candidate.

Although Trump seems to have failed to get re-elected to the White House, he can still opt to contest in the 2024 elections. So, he isn’t going anywhere. His influence will remain in the Grand Old Party — which has widened its base under his presidency. The effect of Trump’s politics in America is to continue.

The unfortunate thing is that the “liberal” media failed once again to get the pulse of the Other America — which sided with Donald Trump this time too. Trump remains their favourite choice and they refuse to endorse the “liberal” media’s favourite Joe Biden; just like they refused to endorse media’s choice Hillary Clinton in 2016.

This year the conservative writer Bari Weiss had to resign from the New York Times citing lack of acceptance of diverse voices in the giant media house. Her resignation comes after the Times removed its editor James Bennet only for publishing an Op-Ed, expressing contrary views, from Republican senator Tom Cotton. This shows how contradictory opinions aren’t accepted by these “liberal” media houses.

It is sad that opposite voices aren’t given space in the “liberal” American media. The disastrous result is that they once again failed to get the correct political scenario of America. This refusal to hear diverse voices is only harming their credibility, not only among the Americans but also among the global readers. This harm to their credibility is to continue — unless they genuinely try to correct their own flaws. (IPA Service)