Bob Corker, who famously sparred with Trump, did an interview on CNBC this morning that reminded me about how the U.S. really works. Everything from what he said about his past interviews to his stance on why people continue to work with Trump rang true. The biggest message he sent out, in my opinion, was a reminder that Republicans are always going to support a President who passes their legislation–same as Democrats. He reminded me that everything ultimately comes down to that sense of Tribalism. It is very much about what side you are on, and how that side chooses to interpret reality.
So, afterwards I turned on GMA for a moment and then switched to Fox News to see what they had to say. It turns out that Corker is very much discussing the end result of the polarizing influence of the media. It shows in this brief comparative viewing. GMA, whose audience comes from both sides of the proverbial aisle approached two stories very differently than Fox approached the same stories. The first story, the one about the Southwest plane crash, was more about the engine and how often that type of engine is used for Fox. In fact, they spent less time on the overall story than GMA and selectively used parts of the same quotes from the pilot that GMA used. Instead they spent the story–led the story with the fear factor. Later when Fox spoke about James Comey, the differences were even more clear.
Fox focused on this quote from Comey, “All we are in this country are a collection of values,” he said. “And that’s what unites Republicans and Democrats.” The anchors actually laughed, snorted, and derisively shook their heads. Then they brought on a woman, Dana Loesch, who they referred to as a TV show host to give her opinion. What they didn’t explain is that Loesch is the firebrand spokeswoman for the NRA, a deeply political group that has put up a ton of money to support Trump and the Republican agenda that Comey (until recently a registered Republican) appears to be threatening with his words.
So, this is where we are. Who knows where we can go from here.