The leftist media reacted with vitriol to Donald Trump’s crushing victory in New Hampshire – stooping to a new low by labeling his supporters racist, sexist zombies. Trump trounced nearest contender John Kasich, taking 34 per cent of the vote, with establishment favorite Marco Rubio lagging behind in fifth place. The Huffington Post exploded with resentment, running with the headline ‘NH GOES RACIST SEXIST HOMOPHOBIC’ in huge red capital letters. A short time later, the headline was changed to ‘WTF GOP – Racist, Sexist, Demagogue WIns NH’. This was just the latest salvo in the publication’s long running feud with Trump. It had previously relegated news stories about him to the ‘entertainment’ section, before Trump’s frontrunner status forced an embarrassing reversal of that policy. Last month, the Huffington Post took the unprecedented step of adding a note to the bottom of every article about Trump which described him as a “liar,” a “racist,” and a “xenophobe.” [1] [8] [10] While the editorial stance may delight Trump’s detractors, it is viewed by many members of the political press corps as unbecoming of an outlet that bills itself as a news organization. [4] Ever since Trump declared he is running for president, the Huffington Post has been treating his campaign with contempt. The Huff Post political writers spoke in general of Trump’s campaign saying, “When he finally announced his bid, many pundits and party officials alike viewed Trump’s candidacy as essentially a comic spectacle.” Calling him a “celebrity entertainer” Grim and Bobic gave a brief overview of Trump’s campaign through an extremely biased lens. They said Trump “regularly dishing out controversy — lobbing attacks against war heroes, racial groups, women, news anchors and entire religions.” The Huff Post writers called Trump’s attacks “crude displays” that “showed contempt for other human beings” and listed Trump’s most controversial remarks and attacks. [13] The website has refused to consider Trump a real politician, and often covers him in its entertainment section. Stories about him also include a disclaimer calling him a “racist bully.” Back in July, when the HuffPost decided not to cover him as a legitimate candidate, Trump responded by calling the site a “glorified blog.” He said he has “never been a fan of Arianna Huffington or the money-losing Huffington Post.” [9] “The Huffington Post has struggled with how to cover Trump’s presidential campaign. Last summer, it announced that it would publish stories about Trump in its ‘Entertainment’ section rather than its ‘Politics’ section. This arrangement became increasingly untenable as Trump became the Republican front-runner,” Politico reported, adding, “In December, The Huffington Post was forced to reverse course and begin covering Trump as a serious presidential candidate.” [12] Given such over the top treatment of Trump, one wonders how the leftist media will respond if he actually wins the Republican nomination, never mind the presidency itself. [1]
Huffington Post wasn’t the only media organization to indict New Hampshire voters. The New York Daily News, long an outspoken critic of Trump, revealed that Wednesday’s headline will be: “DAWN OF THE BRAIN DEAD: Trump comes back to life with N.H. win as mindless zombies turn out in droves.” [4]
