Saturday's New York Times story on President Donald Trump's popularity reads like a tortured liberal's lament.
Jeremy Peters is astonished that Trump's support in the Republican Party has grown, and doesn't understand the "protective" reaction to the unhinged attacks on him.
The Times reporter also overstated the significance of a tiny drop in reported GOP affiliation in Gallup's long-running poll while ignoring a significant shift in GOP-leaning tendencies among independents. He also disguised key data masking what appears to be meaningful growth in support for Trump among minorities.
Peters' headline and opening paragraphs capsulized his clear "we can't believe this is happening" mindset (HT American Thinker):
Addressing the underlined items:
- The Pew Research poll which was the newspaper's primary information source reveals that both Republicans and Democrats are more engaged in following the news now than during the lead-up to previous midterms. So it's not a matter of being "numb to outrage"; instead, Trump supporters have noted the far greater outrages of his Democratic and leftist opponents along with the mountain of fake and twisted "news" generated on their behalf.
- Trump critics' equation of separating migrant children from their parents with the Holocaust and FDR's internment of Japanese-Americans during World War II has been so over-the-top that even Peters had to recognize it.
- At this point, there are at least as many people asking "How can Trump's opponents act like children and thugs?" as there are those who are asking Trump supporters how they can continue to support him.
- The press apparently can't afford to let the myth of Trump's "low overall approval ratings" die. Rasmussen's latest poll through Friday had Trump's approval at 46 percent — the same as Barack Obama's approval at a similar point in his first term.
Then there's this later paragraph:
With all the unhinged hate, threats, intimidation, and (let's not forget) the barrage of fake news, no one outside the East and West Coast bubbles can possibly be surprised at this.
Peters' attempts at locating silver linings also fell flat. Here's one on reported party affiliation:
Wow — two whole points. It is far more important that a closer look at Gallup's party affiliation poll reveals that independents have moved decisively towards leaning Republican in recent months:
With the exception of February, which was close, a once double-digit Democrat advantage among party loyalists and independents has disappeared.
Peters himself despaired that the current immigration controversies will cause movement in Democrats' favor:
Then there's the graphic which the Times appears to have created on its own, whose purpose appears to have been to mask what's seen in an actual graphic at Pew's report showing that Trump has (by historical standards) improved approval rates among blacks and Hispanics of 16 percent and 30 percent, respectively:
Thomas Lifson at American Thinker has identified what he believes is the significance of Peters' palpable frustration:
If he's right, Lifson recognizes that the left's and the press's only option "is metaphorically turning up the volume."
Cross-posted at BizzyBlog.com.
