The right-wing media is reluctantly coming to terms with Donald Trump. It’s been difficult for them, since he has no respect for their power and has treated them with the same contempt that conservatives usually treat the so-called liberal media. But they’re finally adapting to the inevitable. For instance, Bill O’Reilly had been something of a Trump skeptic but he’s made his peace with the candidate, explaining to his audience that one of Trump’s most important crowd-pleasing agenda items is not actually fascist:
(Note: It may not be a mark of fascism, but you will certainly recall the argument that other countries treating Germany unfairly was central to Adolph Hitler’s appeal. That didn’t end well.)
In fact, many conservatives are starting to make the transition to their usual “I know you are but what am I” brand of argument in defense of Trump. The following defense, leveled by Newt Gingrich earlier this week on “Hannity,” is a perfect example:
The actions Friday night clearly were left-wing fascism, I’m really saddened by Republicans who want to blame Trump. Donald Trump wasn’t the reason, as you point out — Condi Rice got cancelled, Ayan Hirsi Ali was canceled on campus. You have this entire movement of fascism which is saying, if you don’t agree with me I’m going to shut up your right to speak, I’m going to intimidate you, bully you. And they are terrified of Donald Trump because he seems to be strong enough and dynamic enough to take them head on.But it is worse than that in the news media. You have on MSNBC for example, Rachel Maddow saying that for Donald Trump to go to Chicago, St. Louis, Cleveland, is provocative because of racial incidents that have occurred in those cities.Imagine an American television person saying that a presidential candidate shouldn’t go to Chicago, Cleveland, or St. Louis. This is madness.We have some obligation to say to the news media, you need to get off this Trump-bashing and report honestly. Not just in the presidential race, but on the campuses what is happening…The sources of confusion and chaos are left-wing fascists who want to impose their way of life on us, they want to impose their values on us. Remember, the first really big test case was Scott Walker as Governor of Wisconsin, who had a key moment when he had thousands of people in the capitol… occupying the state capitol. They had lost the election fair and square, for governor, for state reps, for the senate, and their reaction was to take it to the streets and try to browbeat the governor.I think if you see Trump win or Cruz win, if either one goes to Washington and brings real reform, you’re going to see these kinds of militants go out and do everything they can in the streets to try to stop what they’re losing at the ballot box.
Setting aside the obvious fact that the right is working overtime all over the country to literally keep people from voting, conservative provocateurs like Gingrich jumping on a high horse is rich considering the mass primal scream that emanated from the Republicans upon the election of Barack Obama. As Salon’s Brendan Gautheir noted earlier this week, the stench of hypocrisy is overwhelming. These are the same people, after all, who applauded this directive to disrupt town halls nationwide back in 2009:
— Artificially Inflate Your Numbers: “Spread out in the hall and try to be in the front half. The objective is to put the Rep on the defensive with your questions and follow-up. The Rep should be made to feel that a majority, and if not, a significant portion of at least the audience, opposes the socialist agenda of Washington.”
— Be Disruptive Early And Often: “You need to rock-the-boat early in the Rep’s presentation, Watch for an opportunity to yell out and challenge the Rep’s statements early.”
— Try To “Rattle Him,” Not Have An Intelligent Debate: “The goal is to rattle him, get him off his prepared script and agenda. If he says something outrageous, stand up and shout out and sit right back down. Look for these opportunities before he even takes questions.”