Thursday, November 12, 2020

Trump: The Wingnut Wurlitzer's Coming Star?


After mentally unfit demagogue and impeached loser Donald "COVID Donnie" Trump leaves the White (Supremacy) House -- and he will leave -- there's speculation that he'll take his and his corrupt family's grifting skills to set up a Trumpian media outlet positioned to the right of Fux.  It would likely be 24 /7 fawning praise of his brilliance, constant doses of white supremacy, and angry denunciations of how he had the election stolen from him by Antifa and BLM. The assumption is that it would be an easily established digital media streaming service.

The problem with that business model is that several right-wing, Trumpian media outlets have popped up over the past few years that would compete with Trump. Newsmax is one, and One America News Network (OANN) is another. Both spew Trump-friendly garbage already, with Newsmax being the more widely available, as Emily VanDer Werff at Vox notes:

"Newsmax (or, as it’s more properly known, Newsmax TV) launched in 2014, and it now reaches 75 million homes in the US on nearly all major cable and satellite platforms. (It also streams live on YouTube.) In channel guides, it usually lurks just beyond the CNN/Fox News/MSNBC trifecta, patiently waiting for you to find it. That doesn’t necessarily mean a lot of people are watching, although viewership has risen for Newsmax’s election coverage.

The channel is a product of Newsmax Media, whose flagship publication is the magazine Newsmax. Despite the name, Newsmax — in both its print and televised forms — features even less traditional news than Fox News or MSNBC. It’s almost all commentary, and it’s almost all pro-Trump." (our emphasis)

The Fux Channel is the leader in right-wing disinformation for now, but these cable media entrants think there's a niche for slavish loyalty to Dear Leader that Fux has not provided in Dear Leader's estimation (also, don't forget sinister media giant, Sinclair Broadcasting is in the mix causing trouble too).  Fux's disloyalty has also Trump reportedly eager to "ruin" Fux through such a media venture.  The far-right media ecosystem is so crowded now there may not be enough noxious air to sustain them all, especially if their cult leader enters the scene. It's analogous to Trump indoor rallies with everyone packed in and sucking up the same virus-laden air: in time they're all bound to get sick.

BONUS:

 

(photo illustration: New York Daily News)