For those of us who have been waiting decades for a Republican presidential candidate to figure out that the Establishment Media is already at war with us, Donald Trump is not only an answer to that prayer but an effective answer. After just taking down the once-infallible Fox News a notch, in New Hampshire Friday, The Donald eviscerated New Hampshire’s Union Leader.
Mr. Trump has denounced the paper repeatedly since it endorsed Gov. Chris Christie of New Jersey for president, but on Friday he let loose with a new and more intense stream of invective against The Union Leader and its publisher, Joseph W. McQuaid.
Mr. McQuaid, he said, was a “bad guy,” “a liar,” “a psycho” and a “dirty dog.” He charged, not for the first time, that Mr. McQuaid had sought to extract advertising and political favors in exchange for an endorsement. Mr. McQuaid has consistently denied such assertions.
“Is there a lawyer in the house? Why don’t we sue this dope?” Mr. Trump said.
To a member of the audience who seemed to volunteer, Mr. Trump asked: “You want to sue him for me? Will you give me a good deal?”
As he did in his clash with Fox News, Mr. Trump described his willingness to take on the media as proof of his readiness for the presidency.
“Here’s the beauty of me,” Mr. Trump began. Referring to Mr. McQuaid, he said, “When we have a dirty dog like that, at least I have a microphone where I can speak back.”
In the next paragraph, you can actually sense The New York Times gripping its pearls:
For a Republican candidate to attack The Union Leader at all, let alone repeatedly and with such venom, is extraordinary in New Hampshire politics. The paper is considered one of the two print outlets with the greatest sway over conservative voters. (The other, The Boston Herald, has also endorsed Mr. Christie.)
Our media is so arrogant, so bubbled and insulated, the very idea of a Republican pushing back is simply inconceivable.
The Establishment Media in this country is either a branch of the Democrat Party and/or a Defender of the DC Ruling Class, a castle guard for a status quo that has failed everyone but the elite.
In other words, the media is a political enemy, an opponent that must be treated as such.
Whether or not you like Trump, there is no denying he is fully aware of this fact and, more importantly, has the political skills to finally deliver the reckoning these corrupt institutions have long had coming.
Nothing is more important to our democracy than tearing down the establishment’s media temple.