Where Donald Trump dares to go, the right wing American media blindly follows

The reaction in some news outlets to the claims made by Trump’s latest alleged victim show plainly that the misogyny which he so vehemently denies is as prevalent in parts of the ‘mainstream’ media as it was in Trump’s infamous chat with Billy Bush.

Actress says Republican candidate asked her: 'How much?' (Reuters)

If we hadn’t jumped into a parallel political universe in the last eighteen months or so, the idea of Donald Trump winning the Republication presidential nomination would be bizarre enough. The fact that his campaign for the White House is still limping along despite eleven separate women making sexual assault claims against him would have been inconceivable. Perhaps these strange events help to explain why the Nobel committee decided to dish out its annual literature prize to Bob Dylan – the times they are clearly a changin’, though not necessarily in a good way.

Trump has tapped into the current anti-establishment zeitgeist with elan. It helps, perhaps paradoxically, to have vast wealth. That he has the hide of a rhinoceros and as much shame as a monkey in a nut factory can hardly be disadvantageous. Indeed, what particularly marks out Trump’s style of campaigning is the sheer brazenness both of his attacks on opponents and of his denials in response to any allegations levelled against him. For the Donald, politics is a zero-sum game in which volume and facts are equally valuable metrics.

To the women who have come forward to accuse Trump of sexual misconduct, this approach is manifested in the oft-repeated retort that they are all simply liars. There is no attempt to rebut the specific details contained in their allegations. Instead, the individuals – whose claims cover a period of 27 years – are either in it for self-serving publicity, or because they have been “put up to it” by the Clinton campaign. Trump threatens to sue his accusers when the election is over, although frequently tells his audience that libel laws in the US offer insufficient chances of victory – a prelude, perhaps, to deciding against a court battle. As an aside, should we be concerned that Trump has expressed admiration for the libel regime we have in Britain?

Much of the media has been united in horror at Trump’s tactics. That in itself has given a boost to his anti-elites narrative, in which the mainstream media is lumped in with the traditional political classes – not to mention academics, judges, liberal celebrities and more. All are part of a grand conspiracy to maintain the status quo and to keep Trump from office. No wonder Hillary Clinton found it so difficult to land a knockout blow during the televised debates – like other political mavericks before him Trump is playing a different game, let alone following different rules.

In fact, though, Trump is not entirely without friends in high places, including the media. And his world view is not much removed from that held by many conservative political commentators. Sure enough, for every extreme claim (“nasty woman”, “lock her up”, “bad hombres”) and every blanket denial (“liar”, “never met her”, “totally ridiculous”) support in the right-wing media is only a blond hair’s breadth behind.

The reaction in some news outlets to the claims made by Trump’s latest alleged victim show plainly that the misogyny which he so vehemently denies is as prevalent in parts of the “mainstream” media as it was in Trump’s infamous chat with Billy Bush. What ought to be startling about the allegations levelled over the weekend by Jessica Drake is that it shows there is no end to the tide of women coming forward to recount disturbing and frequently similar tales of Trump misbehaviour. Yet for some, the highlight is not Drake’s position as a victim, but her career working in pornography.

Some of the coverage has been of the “nudge, nudge; wink, wink” variety. Headlines focus on Drake’s work as a porn star, and note that she opened an “online sexual wellness store” the day before she made her allegations about Trump. But some commentators have been open in their derision, suggesting that because Drake has been paid to have sex on camera, her claims that Trump kissed her without consent and offered her money to come to his penthouse suite cannot be taken seriously. It is deeply depressing stuff and gives lie to the idea that Trump is the one fighting smears against his reputation.

If Trump pulls off the greatest of political shocks and makes it to the Oval Office, then the whole world will quake. He is, after all, a man who can ignore almost any reality he dislikes.

Bob Dylan once asked: “how many times must a man turn his head, pretending he just doesn’t see”. In Trump’s case, it’s eleven and counting.