NEWS AND OPINION:
Press coverage of President Trump appears to be mutating from simply hostile to downright extreme as he approaches his one-year anniversary in office with some substantial victories to his credit. The new narrative du jour among pundits and analysts now questions the president’s sanity, with coverage peppered with outrage, sarcasm — and maybe some panic. Journalists can’t overlook the emerging optimism among Americans who prefer to grin over their 401K plans rather than fret over charges of “Russian collusion” against the Trump campaign.
“Amateur psychoanalysis of Donald Trump is a constant theme of ’objective’ reporting these days,” writes Tim Graham, director of media analysis at the Media Research Center, who cited an MSNBC report that claimed the president’s “profound sexual and masculine insecurities are literally threatening to annihilate the planet.”
There are so many new examples of the psycho-president narrative that the center’s researchers are tracking the trend.
Analyst Nicholas Fondacaro showcased CNN’s Brian Stelter, who feels that “madness” is afoot in the White House. Fellow researcher P.J. Gladnick, meanwhile, highlighted an Atlantic magazine report probing the possibility that “something is neurologically wrong with Donald Trump,” while analyst Kristine Marsh cited a panel discussion on ABC’s “The View” suggesting the president is “insane” and “paranoid.”
These citations were on Wednesday alone. But there could be a price for such talk.
“Democrats pathologize at their own peril. Simply writing off Trump as deranged based on nothing more than caricature ignores his shrewd political and media instincts, and that may well come to haunt Democrats in 2018 and beyond. This strategic problem aside, it’s morally wrong to stigmatize mental health problems — and those who suffer from them — in the name of scoring cheap political points,” writes Allan Richarz, a New York Daily News opinion writer.
“A man does not essentially single-handedly capture the White House after taking on both the Republican and Democratic establishments, and the media, without some modicum of cunning and intellect,” he adds.
THE ROMNEY SURGE
Talk that Mitt Romney will run for the Senate in Utah has been percolating for months. It’s reaching a crescendo as journalists mull the possibility that “Senator” Romney could be a convenient new foe for President Trump. The press is quite happy with that idea. Just a few headlines from the last 24 hours:
“Say it again, Mitt Romney: Trump is unfit to serve” (The Washington Post); “Romney would become Trump’s new Washington foe” (CNN); “Trump-Romney rivalry set to take center stage again” (Politico); “Will Romney’s potential Senate run reignite Trump feud?” (NBC News).
HEY, BIG SPENDER
House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi has been named the 2017 “Porker of the Year,” by Citizens Against Government Waste, a nonprofit watchdog. The California Democrat won the dubious designation, the group says, “for her long history of making false and misleading statements about the benefits of Obamacare.”
Thomas Schatz, president of the organization, recalls that Mrs. Pelosi made a “startling claim” in appearance on CNN last year insisting that the Affordable Care Act had increased health care coverage and availability, improved benefits and lowered costs.
“All three aspects of that statement are patently false,” says Mr. Schatz. “A Congressional Budget Office projection found that Obamacare covers less than half of the original estimate of 30 million people, while many Obamacare enrollees who received new private health insurance are finding that their high-deductible plans leave them just as vulnerable when they become ill. Skyrocketing costs have caused insurers to either drastically increase premiums or withdraw from the Obamacare exchanges altogether. Premium increases in 2018 will make coverage unaffordable by the law’s own definition for 54 percent of families who bought health insurance during the 2017 open enrollment period. The cost of the most popular Obamacare plans are set to rise by 34 percent in 2018, and 70 percent of U.S. counties only offer one or two health insurance choices.”
A GROWING POPULATION
“New estimates show U.S. Muslim population continues to grow,” writes analyst Besheer Mohamed in a Pew Research Center analysis released Wednesday that found 3.45 million Muslims live in the U.S., this based on the pollster’s own research and U.S. Census data.
“Our projections suggest that the U.S. Muslim population will grow much faster than the country’s Jewish population. By 2040, Muslims will replace Jews as the nation’s second-largest religious group after Christians. And by 2050, the U.S. Muslim population is projected to reach 8.1 million,” Mr. Mohamed continues.
An initial study of Muslim Americans in 2007 found there were 2.35 million Muslims of all ages in the U.S. By 2011, the number was 2.75 million. Since then, the Muslim population has continued to grow at a rate of roughly 100,000 per year, “driven both by higher fertility rates among Muslim Americans as well as the continued migration of Muslims to the U.S,” the analyst says.
An extensive Pew Research poll of U.S. Muslims released last year also found that 75 percent said there was “a lot of discrimination” against Muslims in America, 68 percent said President Trump worried them, 62 percent said Americans do not see Islam as part of “mainstream society,” 60 percent said the American media do not cover Islam fairly and half said life in the U.S. had gotten more difficult in recent years.
“Despite the concerns and perceived challenges they face, 89 percent of Muslims say they are both proud to be American and proud to be Muslim. Fully 8-in-10 say they are satisfied with the way things are going in their lives. And a large majority of U.S. Muslims continue to profess faith in the American dream, with 70 percent saying that most people who want to get ahead can make it in America if they are willing to work hard,” Mr. Mohamed reports.
POLL DU JOUR
• 50 percent of Americans are optimistic about “what lies ahead in 2018,” 31 percent are neutral and 18 percent are pessimistic.
• 47 percent say that political discussion will become “more negative,” 31 percent say it will stay the same and 7 percent say it will be less negative.
• 46 percent say the public interest in politics will be the same this year, 26 percent say there will be more interest, 16 percent are unsure, 12 percent say there will be less interest.
• 37 percent say Congress will accomplish the “same amount” in 2018 as in previous years, 29 percent say “less than usual” and 14 percent say “more than usual.”
Source: An Economist/YouGov poll of 1,500 U.S. adults conducted Dec. 31, 2017-Jan. 2, 2018.
• Follow Jennifer Harper on Twitter @HarperBulletin
• Jennifer Harper can be reached at jharper@washingtontimes.com.
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