The end of special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation hasn’t been good for the cable news industry. CNN’s ratings have cratered since Mueller publicly announced that he found no collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia, and in April, the network experienced its lowest ratings in three years.
MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow has experienced a similar crash in ratings in recent weeks. These ratings dips represent a significant fall from grace, as just last year the frenzy over Russia and the Mueller investigation was turning Maddow into one of the most-watched talking heads in America.
Indeed, after generating untold amounts of cash from high ratings and web traffic due to obsessive coverage of President Trump’s alleged connections to Russia, liberal members of the media are now paying the price for putting all their eggs in one basket and coming up short. Meanwhile, the real-world impact of the media’s Mueller hysteria is clear from the furor among the Democratic base to impeach President Trump. And that’s a shame.
Whether one agrees with their policy prescriptions, Democrats should focus more on issues like healthcare and income inequality, instead of Russia conspiracies and endless investigations. But large parts of the Democratic Party base are brimming with excitement to begin impeachment proceedings against the president, even though it will almost certainly backfire.
Several Democratic presidential candidates have already come out in favor of impeachment, and while Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi continues to resist calls for impeachment, Democrats eventually may not have much of a choice. Much of their base and nearly half of Americans overall believe that Donald Trump colluded with Russia, despite Mueller’s judgment otherwise.
This is the direct impact of a liberal media narrative that was pushed for nearly two years, without much evidence supporting it.
Of course, the goalposts have shifted, and the Democratic base no longer seeks to impeach Trump over Russian collusion, but instead for obstruction of justice. Yet the Democratic base’s demand for impeachment would not exist without the media misleading the public about “collusion,” painting the Trump presidency as illegitimate from the start.
The corrosive effects of the media’s irresponsible (and in many cases, factually inaccurate) Russia reporting are showing real-world consequences. Many Americans now believe things about Trump and Russia that are simply not true because of cable news’ irresponsible coverage.
This may just end up hurting the Democrats’ own case against Trump in 2020. Former Vice President Joe Biden has wisely avoided the impeachment issue, but it’s only a matter of time until other Democrats use that to paint him as weak against the threat Trump poses to the “rule of law.”
Biden recently referred to impeachment as a “gigantic distraction,” and he’s right. But after two years of constant collusion hype pushed by CNN and MSNBC, addressing that distraction is all but unavoidable.
Justin Caruso (@JustinCarusoDC) is a writer and student.
