Donald Trump. Just about every registered voter in America knows his name, and most know that he’s running for the Republican Party nomination. His various political gaffes are plastered across the front page of every newspaper. He has been accused of being racist, sexist, homophobic and a bigot.
There are 38 declared Republican Party candidates and only ten of them — barely 25 percent — were able to participate in the first major GOP debates. Of course, most of the attention surrounding the debates focused on — guess who — Donald Trump and his minor feud with Megyn Kelly of Fox News.
At this point, there should be no doubt that Trump would make a terrible president, particularly in light of the current partisan situation. His comments about social issues are blunt at best and at worst downright offensive, and he shows no indication that he’s willing to compromise. He has made enemies nearly across the board and his only demonstrated motivation is money.
So, why is he still getting so much attention?
Many American voters rely on major news media for information about candidates. An educated voter base is crucial to electing a president who supports — or at least claims to support — the views of the population. That’s ostensibly the goal of a democracy.
It would be naïve to assume that news media exists solely to provide balanced views on presidential candidates. Moreover, the American public deserves to know when Trump describes a respected news anchor as having “blood coming out of her eyes, blood coming out of her wherever.” They deserve to know when Trump says of illegal immigrants, “They’re bringing drugs. They’re bringing crime. They’re rapists.”
However, the majority of Trump’s antics don’t deserve to make the front page everyday. And without the help of the media to share information about the other 37 candidates, the GOP runs the risk of either electing a relative unknown to run in the general election, or missing out on another candidate who could help the party nail the presidency.
While the media may not be an entirely impartial source of information about potential candidates, they are still important. The field is too crowded to justify such one-sided coverage, in particular with important events like the debates, which many people don’t actually watch in their entirety.
Continuing to give Trump the attention he craves is like humoring a child throwing a temper tantrum — the storms will only get worse. Meanwhile, every other candidate is forced to either resort to similar antics or just sit patiently waiting their turn for the spotlight. This is far more damaging to the political process than Donald Trump himself could ever be.
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