Some have said the MSM has attempted to "normalize" Trump.

[raccoon]

I agree that they have. But if they didn’t, what would it look like? How would journalists behave, if they didn’t normalize the Dotard?

[Me.]

1. Like Real, Truth Telling Journalists?

[raccoon]

2. Yes. For instance would they say something like,

“He seemed to have trouble negotiating the ramp.”
Or something stronger?

[Me.]

3. 'seemed' is part of the problem

they use too many qualifiers like ...a little bit...possibly...maybe...seemed.

[Squinch]

5. How about, "He evidently" or "he clearly" or "his pace slowed significantly in order for him to"

"He said X, which was patently untrue."
"He lied about X, saying Y, when Z is actually the truth."
"He has had nothing on his schedule for a week."
"Our Covid response under his administration is one of the worst in the world. THE worst among developed countries."
"The economy and job losses are the worst in American history."
"He has given racist murderers permission to kill."
"22 women have accused him of rape."
"He was a good friend and frequent companion of Jeffrey Epstein."
"He is a serial failure at business. If it were not for illegal Russian bailouts, he would be penniless."
"His economic and social ties to Vladimir Putin and Russian oligarchs have NEVER been investigated. These include a, b, c, .... z."
etc.

[sop]

4. How about, "Today Trump said xyz...the actual facts are abc...Trump lied."

[The Magistrate]

6. 'Trump Lies Again', Sir, Is the Only Headline Proper

I recall reading a newspaper story from back in the late nineteenth century, covering some 'Free Silver' men who had taken over some county courthouse in the plains. This is a paraphrase, mind, but fairly close --- They made speeches whose content was such nonesense no details need be recounted.

A similar policy ought to have been employed from the moment this heap thug came down the escalator to greetings from a hired audience.

[Thunderbeast]

7. 43 Million of our fellow citizens

were led down the path. The MSM didn't do it. FOX NEWS, two years of congressional hearings on servergate, and AM radio did it. Sadly, that was enough.

Mainstream news coverage was less critical of Trump than liberal-leaning outlets, but they did not hide his many flaws. Like most of us, they treated him (and his followers) as a fringe curiosity. They let the faulty polling lead them to believe that he was not a serious threat to win the White House.

The Access Hollywood tape, Trump University, the Putin love affair, and other major scandals were reported in full. Counter-programming by right-wing media was the primary (if not exclusive) news source for the voters who elected him.

[yardwork]

8. The media succeeded in normalizing Trump, which is why he's president.

The media suspended basic journalistic integrity when they covered Trump in 2015 and 2016, and they continue to this day.

Figuring out why will be interesting.

[Tom Rinaldo]

9. One of the signs that Trump is going down...

...is that generally the media has done a lot less normalizing of Trump during the last few months than they previously had. There is more coverage of his lies as lies. More in the moment fact checking. More clearly labeling his autocratic leanings as autocratic leanings. The media is now actually giving serious attention to the possibility that Trump might refuse to leave office by claiming the election was rigged. When they start saying THAT about a President, he no longer is being normalized.

[SlogginThroughIt]

10. The problem is the idea that the viewer decides the truth

Fox started this silly notion that fair and balanced somehow means giving airtime to factually false ideas under the guise of being fair. Of course they don’t even do that because they have stopped presenting the actual truth alongside their fiction at times. For example we are almost at the point where if the media were to do a story on the globe they would feel compelled to offer the counterpoint that some believe the world is flat. And that is how these falsehoods gain traction because Some people WANT to believe a contrarian viewpoint.

[gulliver]

11. They haven't except for Fox "News". Normalization happens automatically.

People just except Trump's antics and destruction as normal now because nothing has been done about them. That will change in November.

[Trumpocalypse]

12. Well this for a start

[uponit7771]

13. Do their homework on RWTP, obvious distraction and lies .... Like Jonathan Swan

[Proud Liberal Dem]

14. The way they frame debates between him and his opponents

And this problem extends far beyond just Trump. The media has this aggravating tendency to give competing arguments about just about everything equal weight, even when both sides are, objectively, equally weighed. The Teaching Creationism vs. Evolution In Schools debate is the marquee example for me- You have one argument- the scientific argument- that is backed up by empirical research and by facts and another one with- the creationist argument- backed up by nothing but religious belief and conviction taken from a book that has been translated, re-interpreted, and passed down through centuries and yet both are given more or less equal weight in a debate over public policy that undoubtedly has profound implications for our children's educational instruction. Much of what Trump says or pushes are lies or exaggerations, however, they are often treated as having the same inherent value or status as what his opponents (us) are saying, with what we are saying and doing backed up by actual facts, evidence, etc.

[Nexus2]

15. There has been this odd, almost determined drive to 'normalize' Trump

both in treatment and reaction to him by more than sections of the media, but by organizations, institutions and other political entities. They've all attempted to try and treat him like a typical president, Hell, a typical human being against all prevailing evidence and that's certain enabled him in many ways.

[uponit7771]

16. +1, I think Van Jones was crying the night he said Red Don had turned the corner