The presidency is no longer just a ‘bully pulpit’. It’s become part of the disinformation machineDonald Trump won the White House not with money, though he spent plenty of it, but by dominating the conversation. He hasn’t stopped campaigning. He uses attention to bolster his political power, and uses his office to make sure that everyone keeps watching.He was barred from leading social media platforms after the January 6 attack on the Capitol, but four years later, their owners attended his inauguration. Many of his key hires appear picked for their media presence as well as their ideological bent and sycophancy. Tuesday’s interminable address to Congress was garnished with the kind of wild claims or outright lies that he knows take off on social media. For him, posting online ultimatums to Hamas and a disturbing AI-generated “Trump Gaza” video is all part of foreign policy. One of the most chilling, and telling, moments of last week’s attack on Volodymyr Zelensk...
Trump won the presidency by dominating media attention and continues to use it to maintain political power, employing social media tactics and surrounding himself with media-savvy individuals. His actions, including online ultimatums and embracing figures like Andrew Tate, contribute to a disinformation machine. The editorial questions if Democrats can effectively capture and wield similar attention.
