But for years now, instead of acting to put the lie to the term, many have just confirmed and amplified the President’s point for him.
The end of the Russian collusion conspiracy, thanks to the findings of the Mueller Inquiry, provides the ultimate vindication for Trump’s claim and clear humiliation for those in the media who have shamelessly campaigned for his impeachment.
Shrill, partisan, fanciful and blind to any evidence that didn’t fit their narrative, journalists didn’t just buy Russiagate, they promoted, modified, exaggerated and, yes, faked it.
It never made much sense, the smoking guns never appeared, and stark signs the conspiracy was falling over were ignored.
It is the exploding cigar of media narratives. And those who ran hardest with it are now being called out,
The New York Post has run a Mueller Madness poster where readers can vote for the worst Russian collusion promulgator, choosing from such media luminaries as MSNBC host Rachel Maddow, CNN’s Don Lemon, Jennifer Rubin of the Washington Post or the New York Times’ Paul Krugman. There are celebrities in the mix too, from Robert DeNiro (who famously wanted to punch the President) to a range of comedic talk show hosts and Kathy Griffin who thought beheading him was amusing.
The hubris is extreme. And yes, for those of us who have been pointing out this folly for years, the schadenfreude is impossible to resist.
It is not just the media, of course, who have failed to deal sensibly with Trump. His political opponents have allowed themselves to be led astray. As I wrote in these pages last January; “The Democrats need to spend less time shrieking about Russia and put more effort into unearthing alternative policies and candidates.”
Even last month when Trump’s former lawyer Michael Cohen turned up at a congressional hearing to slander his old boss, the Democrats and the media couldn’t look past the excitement of hearing him declare Trump a racist, womaniser, shyster and threat to democracy. (Tired news by now, surely?)
They missed the obvious and unpalatable story that day (that some of us focused on) when Cohen revealed that even he had no evidence of collusion with Russia. If Trump’s former lawyer who was now a sworn enemy had nothing, who could do better?
The media zeitgeist has been wrong on Trump since the day he announced his candidacy more than three years ago.
It was wrong about his campaign throughout 2016, wrong about the result, wrong about how long he would last and completely wrong about Russia.
“Collusion became the font of all their hopes”
Most journalists have foolishly refused to accept his legitimacy, undermining democratic principles. They blamed social media, Fox News, the electoral college system, racism, ignorance and voters.
And the bizarre claims of Russian collusion became the font of all their hopes, a way to explain his rise, redeem themselves and prove they were right after all.
Trump won because he got the votes where he needed them. Hillary Clinton was an establishment candidate who called voters deplorable and didn’t campaign in Michigan. It wasn’t Russia who scripted her lines or planned her campaign schedule. In fact, we know the media was secretly helping her prep for the debates.
Trump Derangement Syndrome is driven by the need for so-called elites to have their revenge. And the manic media has been unprecedented.
The biggest names and organisations in the world have become caricatures of themselves promoting bombshells, breakthroughs and exclusives about the looming impeachment or destruction of the President.
In 2017 the prestigious Time Magazine’s cover was given over to an image of The White House being subsumed by St Basils of Red Square fame. Powerful media organisations have gambled a lot on Russiagate and lost much authority. They may never recover.
In Australia taxpayers have funded the derangement.
Instead of just relying on its competent and more-or-less dispassionate foreign correspondents for coverage, the ABC has funded anti-Trump obsessives here to overdose on the Fake News.
Planet America is a weekly comedy-cum-conspiracy show devoted to US politics and hosted by comedian Chas Licciardello and former fact-checker John Barron.
Journalist Matt Bevan, who provides daily updates on Trump for Radio National Breakfast, produced a podcast series last year called Russia, If You’re Listening.
Both shows shamelessly stalk Trump with teenage breathlessness, and wallow in the weeds of every conspiracy theory and outbreak of media hysteria. As I’ve reported here before, the ABC won’t say how much they cost.
The national broadcaster also sent top reporter Sarah Ferguson to the US for an extended period to shoot a 3-part Four Corners documentary series on the Russia claims, dubbing them the “story of the century”. This has turned out to be the beat-up of the century.
Now that we know there is no collusion — and there will be no prosecution on obstruction of justice either — the scandal is exposed.
The media have been having a lend of themselves and us.
But the ABC continues to abuse our trust. Inconceivably, on the day Mueller put an end to the whole saga, the ABC chose to launch the second series of the Russia, If You’re Listening podcast.
“Robert Mueller, the man who has been haunting Donald Trump for the last two years, has finally delivered his report,” said Bevan. “The result according to US Attorney General Bill Barr; neither Trump, nor anyone from his campaign, conspired or co-ordinated with Russia to influence the US presidential election.”
This might have seemed like a good time to sign off and save the taxpayers some money. But Bevan went on. “So who is Bill Barr? What else has he said? And can we trust his summary?”
Here we go again.
On the main TV news bulletin last night the ABC carried a serious piece of journalism from their Washington correspondent, Zoe Daniels, but then devalued her work by flicking the switch to Trump Derangement Syndrome.
Planet America’s Barron fronted a package compiling all the other claims, prosecutions and controversies that might now ensnare the President. Collusion is dead, long live the conspiracy.
The ABC is even taking the opportunity to promote its three-part Trump Russia documentary series. And they wonder why the term Fake News resonates.
Who are we? A bunch of chip-munching, fruit and nut bar eaters
What would a 19th-century French gourmand say about Australia’s 21st-century diet? Sacre bleu cheese, of course.
Women of colour? How about writers of skill and talent
No one doubts that these books deserve to be read and debated and celebrated and critiqued like any others. But the judges’ decision to create some sort of subset of writers based on their backgrounds risks detracting from their achievement.
Unsurprisingly, I suppose, it has been journalists and the media who have bristled most at Donald Trump’s favoured moniker of Fake News.