Enough already! I’m sick of having Donald Trump on my TV every night: John Blumenthal

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LOS ANGELES — Whenever we turn on cable news, my wife and I morph into two characters from a Tennessee Williams play, only we weren’t shouting at each other, we were shouting at the flat screen. Why are we screaming at an inanimate object? Because the station is once again playing videos of a man who should no longer be in the public eye — Donald Trump.

Do we really need to watch every one of his rallies? We already know which midterm candidates he has endorsed — the unqualified ones. We know he doesn’t care much for the FBI or the January 6th Select Committee. Blah, blah, blah.

More infuriating is when Trump isn’t even relevant to the news story. For example, if the news report is on Ukraine, news directors will find some reason to shoehorn in old clips of Trump batting his eyes at Vladimir Putin. If they have a story on a promising new COVID discovery, six seconds later, there he is again, recommending his bleach cure. Now, we have to see reruns?

Of course, its all about ratings. Media profits began to inch northward shortly after Trump entered the circus of presidential politics. News corporations are addicted to what soon became a cash cow. Another eight years would be a financial bonanza.

When Trump fulminates about something spectacularly inane (hardly a rare event), the talking heads are predictably incredulous. Thats fine — let them schmooze about him, but do they need to include visuals? Do we need to see this carnival barker in action every night?

TV cameras have swooned over Trump since 2016, and this one-sided romance has saved him millions in campaign ads. Why spend money when the publicity is free? Its bad publicity, but as PT Barnum said, there is no such thing as bad publicity.

News outlets know that it would be difficult to find anyone as dependably entertaining as our 45th president. Six years after his election, Trump is still milking the press and they are still falling for it. PT Barnum also said, there’s a sucker born every minute.

During the 2016 campaign, Bernie Sanders supporters complained that their candidate wasn’t getting media exposure. His rallies were rarely covered. Hillary Clinton’s events were rarely shown, as well. Yet, Trump rallies dominated the screen. My wife used to ask the TV, Where’s Hillary? Where’s Bernie?

The reason is simple: Bernie always said the same things at his rallies (Medicare for all!) and Hillary is a policy wonk. The clown act was more amusing.

Did broadcast media contribute to Trump’s victory in 2016? Who knows, but according to the demographics cited in Public Opinion Strategies, MSNBC’s audience does not consist entirely of Democrats and liberals. Seventeen percent of their viewership consists of Republicans, 17% are independents and 20% are conservatives. Thats 54%. In 2016, some of these voters might have been more inspired than repelled by Trump. It was a very close election.

John Blumenthal is an award-winning novelist and former magazine editor who co-authored the movie, Blue Streak.

Considering Donald Trumps threats about the Draconian changes he plans to enact if hes re-elected in 2024, and given his opinion that the Constitution belongs in the paper-products aisle of the supermarket, is it not inconceivable that he just might decide he has no real need for a free press. Might Fox become the definition of a free press? Are the mainstream media shooting themselves in the feet by featuring him every night?

Although dimming the spotlight on Trump would seriously diminish the media’s corporate bottom line, minimizing his exposure would lighten half the nations collective anxiety and possibly keep him in check. Out of sight, out of mind. Granted, its difficult to give up an addiction but if one remains a junkie, it usually doesn’t end well.

I can only think of one video I’d be delighted to see every night–the one in which he’s on a bus to Rikers.

An award-winning novelist and former magazine editor who co-authored the movie, Blue Streak, John Blumenthals work has appeared in The Los Angeles Times, The Chicago Sun-Times, Playboy, Publishers Weekly, Salonand Huffington Post. This was written for The Plain Dealer and cleveland.com.

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