This got me thinking when I read it:
Minutes ago Conor Friedersdorf published a piece in The Atlantic speculating that when the Trumpanzee loses his consolation prize may be a whole new right wing media juggernaut, “that challenges Fox News for supremacy on the right across all platforms.” Even discounting Mercer, he wrote that “If today’s polls hold through election day, Trump and associates will be proved failures at electoral politics. But even if that proves so, I wouldn’t bet against a right-wing media behemoth that brought together Trump, Roger Ailes, Stephen Bannon, Ann Coulter, Matt Drudge, and Sarah Palin” and reminds us that O’Reilly, Hannity and Greta Van Susteren could all legally follow Ailes if they want to.
I pride or delude myself (depending on your point of view) that I’m able to game out how things will play out under certain conditions. I was right, for instance, when I predicted way back in 2013 that 2016 would be the year when the whackos finally got their man.
But, I’m having trouble gaming out how this would play out. Imagine, two Fox Networks, battling for the same (we are told) rapidly dying viewership. One almost certainty is that one of them would go even further to the right than Fox is at present, perhaps to full blown, no holds barred, explicit racism and nativism. Would the other tack leftish? Or would they do battle with each other to see who could spiral further into the muck? And what would it do to the political conversation in this country. Would the rest of the media dutifully conclude that the center must have moved rightward and follow Fox and its new friend? Stay tuned, as it seems to me that there is a very real possibility that a defeated Trump will in fact take this path.
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