Former President Trump drives media attention, whether the story is about his first-quarter fundraising or the whereabouts of his wife, Melania. Broadcast-media ratings remained unusually high while he was in office and spiked again after his recent indictment. Financial Times columnist Edward Luce wrote that the media circus around Trump’s arraignment “was a cross between the death of Diana, Princess of Wales and the OJ Simpson car chase.” …
In the same week as the arraignment, however, Wisconsin elected a liberal justice to the state Supreme Court, shifting its ideological balance in a state with crucial issues like abortion and gerrymandering on the line. Then, the Tennessee Legislature expelled two young Black legislators for disrupting floor business to protest gun violence in response to a recent school shooting in Nashville. …
Trump’s existence in politics has blurred lines between politics and entertainment, and that’s part of his appeal. He knows how to play an audience—and the media. The problem is that when Trump dominates the national discussion, it allows these other debates to happen under less sunlight than they deserve. CONTINUED
Natalie Jackson, National Journal
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