Rantz: Kamala Harris wasn’t the only one to lose. Left-wing did too but did it learn a lesson?

Kamala Harris wasn’t the only loser last night. Left-wing media outlets suffered a stinging defeat.

Donald Trump’s decisive victory over Harris came as a shock to many in left-wing media. Voices from MSNBC, CNN, The New York Times and The Washington Post couldn’t comprehend how anyone could ignore their warnings and vote for Trump. Not only did left-wing media fail to sway the electorate, but it may have also contributed to their own diminishing credibility.

Left-wing media voices are not yet self-aware enough to understand that it was their relentless and hyperbolic attacks on Trump and his supporters that helped propel the former president to another victory. Based on their reaction since the landslide victory for Trump, it seems unlikely that they’ll ever realize they’re the problem, not the voters.

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How did left-wing media try to destroy Donald Trump?

Throughout the campaign, left-wing media engaged in an endless barrage of extreme rhetoric, labeling Trump as a fascist, authoritarian, and Nazi.

On MSNBC, Jonathan Capehart compared Trump’s Madison Square Garden rally to a Nazi gathering. Anchor Nicolle Wallace claimed the stakes of a Trump election “literally are life or death for every woman in America. It’s not hyperbole. It’s not an exaggeration. It’s what happens next week.” Left-wing historian Michael Beschloss claimed that historians would be banned from writing books if Trump is elected.

CNN, a network desperate to claim it’s an objective news network, was no better than MSNBC.

Anchor Jake Tapper offered a six-minute monologue drawing parallels between Trump’s immigration policies to fascism. Guest Mehdi Hasan called Trump supporters Nazis. Analysts on the network’s website offered bad faith and misleading analysis.

The point of their attacks? To manipulate the electorate into voting against Trump and for Harris. They thought they had the power to get us to vote against our interests.

What was the point of the left-wing media strategy?

This strategy extended beyond Trump himself to his supporters, who were often derided and dismissed by these media outlets.

MSNBC commentator Joy Reid, for example, referred to Florida’s government as “extremist, right-wing, fascist-type,” implicitly criticizing the voters who supported such leadership. These kinds of broad-brush insults alienate a significant portion of the electorate, who felt their legitimate concerns were being ignored or belittled. Reid and her left-wing colleagues don’t understand that because they only hang out with other elitist snobs in the media who think they’re better than the rest of us.

The media’s over-the-top language and fear-mongering did not stop at the election’s conclusion, either. In the early hours following Trump’s victory, anchors from CNN and MSNBC struggled to hold back tears, with CNN commentator Van Jones describing the event as a “nightmare.” And, of course, there were plenty of claims that Harris lost due to sexism and racism, not the fact that she was a deeply flawed candidate who didn’t define her policy positions. Some of us are old enough to remember Harris ran for president in 2016 but didn’t make it to the first primary contest.

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Will there be lessons learned?

The question now is whether these media outlets will learn from this experience. Will they recognize that their hyperbolic rhetoric and partisan approach pushed people towards Trump? Will they realize they’re the reason public trust in journalism has eroded so dramatically? Or will they continue down the same path, further entrenching divisions and alienating viewers?

Dwindling ratings and readership haven’t seemed to move the needle in getting left-wing voices to curb their hyper-partisan rhetoric. So what will?

For the media to regain credibility, a return to objective reporting and a commitment to presenting diverse viewpoints is essential. At a bare minimum, they must argue in good faith and stop talking down to people who don’t agree with them. But that would mean ending the sensationalism and focusing on facts, providing context, and respecting the intelligence of the audience. It also requires acknowledging mistakes and they’ve made a ton of them.

The left-wing media’s approach during this election cycle has been a disservice to the public. It certainly hasn’t embraced the principles of journalism. Their defeat is not just in the loss of their preferred candidate but in the loss of trust and credibility. Whether they will learn from this experience remains to be seen, but one thing is clear: the American people deserve better. And with their support of Donald Trump, they made it pretty clear that they weren’t buying what left-wing media was selling.

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