There's a Reason the Media Is Finally Paying Attention to the Threat Donald Trump Poses

Yes, even Maggie Haberman

Four GOP candidates debated last night for the right to be the first also-ran to Donald Trump, and there is absolutely nothing to report from that debate beyond the empty theatrics. Unfortunately, there is no realistic competition (in either party), but the lack of interest in the horse race has allowed the media to fill all that dead space with news that matters, namely: The threat that Donald Trump poses.

We don’t yet need to celebrate some in the media for doing the bare minimum. Still, it is worth pointing out that, in the last few days and weeks, the Washington Post has written several pieces on the fear of a looming dictatorship that Trump poses (don’t click on the link today because Post journalists are on a one-day strike), the NYTimes has warned that a second Trump term would be more radical than his first (same with CNN), and even Axios is providing a glimpse of what Donald Trump’s cabinet might look like in a second term. It’s terrifying, so much so that even Maggie Haberman — who has made a career off of covering Trump — is sounding alarm bells.

When Stephen Miller could potentially be the Attorney General of the United States, it is not hyperbole to suggest that the cabinet is reminiscent of the one in Germany during World War II. Tucker Carlson could be the Vice President. Stephen Bannon could be the White House Chief of Staff. Those aren’t worst-case scenarios; they are genuine possibilities. Let me repeat: Tucker Carlson could be second-in-line to a 78-year-old man in terrible shape and ill mental health.

Trump is not just raising red flags; he’s blindfolding us with them. There’s a reason that the media is finally starting to speak up, and it’s not just because the fear of a dictatorship might generate scare clicks; it’s because Donald Trump is promising, in a second term, to punish his political enemies, and that includes journalists.

Journalists, former government officials, and even former friends of Donald Trump have made a fortune in the last four or five years off of their anti-Trump books. Maybe they even had some financial incentive to keep certain information private until they released their books (see, e.g., Maggie Haberman), but there’s a realistic future where those financial opportunities are replaced by government harassment, lawsuits, and even jail time. Trump cannot be good for the bottom line of CNN and The New York Times if Trump shuts down CNN and The New York Times.

And again, this is precisely what Trump wants to do. He has already threatened to put MSNBC on trial for treason. Literally. Under a second term, Trump wouldn’t stop at calling the free press “the enemy of the people” or “the fake news media.” He would shut it down. Lookit: Even with his own people suggesting that Trump should maybe cool it with the authoritarian rhetoric, Trump has already said that he will be a dictator on his first day of office. He’s not going to stop there.

There’s still time to get the word out. These “looming threat” pieces need to be an everyday occurrence, and they need to spread beyond the mainstream news outlets to conservative media, too. Even Fox News must understand the financial disincentive in supporting Trump: He doesn’t like the network. He doesn’t like Rupert Murdoch. The first time Fox News publishes a poll that puts Trump in a negative light, he’ll threaten to try that network for treason, too. As much as I’d love to see Greg Gutfield suffer, I do not want him imprisoned for disagreeing with the President.

Here’s a Trump acolyte before Trump has even won the Presidency.

Journalists must stick together, not to attack one political party or support one political candidate, but to protect the profession. Trump is not just the biggest threat to Democracy of our lifetimes; he’s the biggest threat to the free press. Believe it or not, the guardrails stopped Trump from executing his agenda during his first term. If he’s elected to a second, those guardrails won’t exist.