Liberal media elites and the GOP are stuck in mind-warp that 69-year real estate tycoon and former reality TV-star Donald Trump is a racist unfit to run for president. With a new CBS poll today showing that Trump’s unrealistic idea to ban Muslims from the U.S. actually gave him a bounce to 35%, 19% above his closest GOP competitor Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas.), the mainstream media and GOP elites don’t get it. Trump’s staying power in the 2016 GOP presidential campaign is no fluke, despite being somewhat unprecedented. He’s got the rest of field eclipsed in terms of charisma, persuasiveness and political skill. Dominating the headlines since announcing for president June 16, Trump’s withstood all the Republican Party’s attempts to sabotage his insurgent campaign. None of Trump’s competitors or members of the GOP establishment have been spared from his criticism.
Only four days left before the next CNN debate at the Venetian Hotel in Las Vegas, the GOP establishment has thrown an avalanche of mud at Trump for his incendiary comments about Muslims. Media elites can’t separate their own ire for Trump’s controversial ideas from the GOP’s last-ditch efforts to change momentum in the 2016 race. If form holds, Trump should march on to victory, not, as some in the media or GOP establishment predict because he’s a protest candidate but because he’s exactly what the majority of voters are looking for in 2016. While the media shows outrage over Trump’s ideas about Muslims, voters get the risks of terrorism, leaving less sympathy for thousands of Mideast refugees seeking asylum in the U.S. and Europe. CBS’s recent poll slaps the GOP establishment and mainstream media for relentlessly going after Trump.
Most of Trump’s rivals are polling poorly because they spend their time ripping the front-runner, rather than putting their best foot forward to voters. GOP insiders at the Republican National Committee hoped they could sabotage Trump and sell voters on more mainstream conservatives like Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fl.) or Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas). Voters like Trump’s fresh approach to campaigning, moving off the teleprompter to a plain-speaking but energetic speaking style. No one in the GOP race commands the crowds as Trump, attesting to his charisma and media appeal. While media elites rail against Trump’s controversial views, the public laps it up, looking for something different in 2016. Voters easily forgive Trumps views on Muslims because they know he’s genuinely concerned about the deteriorating state of U.S. national security under President Barack Obama.
In the mainstream media, it’s politically incorrect to not attack Trump’s racially insensitive comments about Muslims. CNN’s executives, led by CEO Jeff Zucker, are busy whipping the public into a frenzy heading into the Dec. 16 Las Vegas debate. CNN’s upper management didn’t like Fox News crushing them in the Nielsen ratings for in their first debate, drawing 24 million viewers to CNN’s 14 million Oct. 29. Interviewing Trump for an hour, CNN’s “Tonight” anchor Don Lemon showed a more nuanced style, asking tough questions buy listening attentively to Trump’s answers. Lemon asked Trump point blank whether he’s bigoted or Islamophobic. Trump answered, “I am the least racist person that you have ever met,” dismissing the GOP and media narrative that Trump isn’t fit for president. Lemon’s interview, while appearing tough, helped rehab Trump from the GOP and media onslaught.
Trump’s stature as an accomplished real estate entrepreneur and global brand eclipses not only other GOP candidates but journalists trying to take shots at him. Lemon allowed Trump to explain himself, something other journalists don’t do, interrupting often when they’re not scoring points. Trump’s campaign message of “Make America Great Again” has morphed into “Make America Safe Again,” something overlooked by the media and other GOP candidates. Trump’s backers ignored the GOP and media rhetoric, viewing him as trying to protect national security. Trump’s anti-Muslim rhetoric goes against his self-interest, telling Lemon if he loses business in the Mideast, he’s doing it for the right reason. Insisting that his Muslim business friends in the Mideast applaud him for getting tougher on terrorism, Trump hasn’t backed down pushing for more immigration restrictions.
Heading into Tuesday night’s debate, the remaining GOP field won’t get more traction bashing Trump. Prior attacks have backfired, leaving Donald with his best polls and largest margins above his GOP rivals. Once in a dead heat with 64-year-old retired pediatric neurosurgeon Ben Carson, Trump exposed the Obama-bashing best-selling author as an imposter. When Carson pronounced Hamas “humus” speaking in Washington to the “Republican Jewish Coalition,” Carson’s foreign policy weaknesses were on full display. Some GOP pundits have gone so far to say Trump’s destroying the GOP brand. If anything, he’s rehabbing a brand tainted by the failed economic and foreign policies of the Bush-43 administration. Trump’s right when he told Lemon Dec. 9 that he has the best shot of beating former Secretary of State and Democratic front-runner Hillary Rodham Clinton.
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