In the 2016 presidential election, verbal attacks on the press and threats of violence against journalists were commonplace during Trump’s campaign rallies. Since then, critiques of the media have increasingly become a staple in political discourse; Trump even characterized the press as the “enemy of the American people.” Of course, this is not the first time that politicians have espoused attacks on the media as a political strategy. Political leaders often discredit the press as elitist, distrustful, and biased in an attempt to spin the facts and align themselves with the “everyday” voter. In this chapter, I examine the nature of press attacks by US political leaders throughout history. Then, I present original data that characterize the frequency and nature of Trump’s criticisms of the press on Twitter. Finally, I turn to social science research to help us better understand the effects of such media attacks on voters.
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Front Matter
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Part I: Theory of populism
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Part II: Historical populism
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Part III: Populism and media
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Part IV: Today’s populism
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Part V: Populism and virtue
