Post-Truth America is Donald Trump’s Legacy
President-Elect Donald Trump has introduced something so poisonous into our political system that we will be grappling with it for the rest…
Photo by Elijah O'Donell on Unsplash
President-Elect Donald Trump has introduced something so poisonous into our political system that we will be grappling with it for the rest of our lives. He accomplished something that I did not think was possible: bullshit his way all the way to the White House.
His inability to be pinned down by his incessant lies became his greatest strength. Rather than capitulating when called out for his lies like your typical politician does, Trump doubled down. He torched the rule book. And it worked. Politicians will now come up in this new reality: Post-Truth America.
Trump has exposed the reality that facts no longer matter. There are no facts, only the version of truth you choose to believe. Politicians will be exploiting this new reality for years to come.
Trump revealed that so long as you play to the public’s worst fears and instincts, they will follow you in the face of any perversion of truth. You can lie, and it doesn’t even need to be convincingly, and still be lauded as someone who “shoots it straight”, “tells it like it is”.
Where do we go from here? How can we even operate in such an environment. When we can’t even agree on what reality is, how can we work together toward solutions?
It used to be that institutions such as the media served as an external check to government. To hold them accountable in the public eye. If a government leader used deception, it was the journalist’s job to expose that. This was viewed as a great service to the American people. In fact, it was integral to the process.
But today faith in the media has become so degraded that no amount of investigative journalism can protect us from those who bend the truth to their will. The people no longer trust it, so it is no longer effective in its role as guardian of the people. They view media as a colluding entity, a propaganda arm against their side if the facts don’t align with what they want to believe. The media does deserve some measure of blame for at times allowing coverage to be tainted by ideology, but by in large traditional journalists still do attempt to provide the invaluable service of holding leaders to account.
But Trump changed all that. He became the Teflon Don and the media was never able to figure out how to handle it. He was impervious to any revelation, no matter how jarring or grotesque.
Being a master of self promotion and general bullshittery, Trump managed to play the media to his needs. He inoculated himself against criticism by attacking the media with a ferocity. When he was done, his supporters were utterly convinced that everything the media said about Trump, no matter how true, was an unfair witch hunt.
This was unfamiliar territory for the media. After all, how can someone be held accountable when there is no consistent version of truth to hold them accountable to? This is our struggle now.
How can we hold our leaders accountable in a Post-Truth America?