Despite leading in the polls and, as Sam Stein admits, driving the narrative with 'substantive policy points', like birthright citizenship, Huffington Post will continue to treat Trump as a sideshow.
SAM STEIN: “Let’s look at this as a meta-commentary. We’re living in a world that is vastly different than it was a while ago, where party bosses don’t pick a presidential candidate, but we have a merger of politics and entertainment. It’s just a fact. We have a merger of politics and entertainment, and Donald Trump is better at it than anyone we’ve ever had before.”
For his part, the always clueless Ron Fournier of the National Journal quipped “if Huffington Post is going to treat Donald Trump like entertainment, maybe they should treat Hillary Clinton like fiction.”
Ryan Grim, HuffPo's DC Bureau Chief wrote on Monday to TV Newser:
We’re more committed to the decision than ever. Over the last month, we’ve seen our central argument proven right: that Trump is nothing more than a sideshow and not a legitimate presidential contender with serious policy ideas for moving the country forward. The GOP debate was fantastic reality TV, but it came across more like a twisted political version of “American Idol” than a presidential debate. And subsequent coverage reveals a collective media frenzy that’s embarrassing to credible media outlets – witness this weekend’s pandemonium around Trump’s helicopter at the Iowa State Fair. Otherwise serious journalists are being seduced by Trump because of his willingness to say and do outrageous things for headlines and ratings. We’re still not taking the bait.
Trump isn't a sideshow for this clown car. He's the main event, the conductor leading them on their way.
