Critics in the mainstream media are being humbled by Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump’s staying power as the frontrunner in the polls.
Chris Cillizza of the Washington Post wrote an article Tuesday admitting that he was wrong to say that “no one should take Donald Trump seriously.”
But the WaPo writer wasn’t alone. Most people in the mainstream media dismissed Trump as nothing more than a summer fling for Republican primary voters.
Cillizza, like polling expert Nate Silver’s website Five Thirty Eight, originally said that Trump’s huge negative ratings would give him a very low ceiling.
“You cannot and do not win anything when your numbers look like Trump’s. I can’t say it any more clearly than that. There’s nothing you can say or do — not that Trump would ever even consider going on an image rehabilitation tour — to change how people feel about you. Republicans know Trump. And they really, really don’t like him,” Cillizza wrote on June 17.
By July those number reversed and had many in the MSM scratching their heads and eating their words.
“That same Post-ABC poll that showed Trump at 23/65 in his favorable/unfavorable ratings among Republicans in May suddenly revealed an absolutely unprecedented change in Trump’s favor in July,” Cillizza continued. “In that latter (and later) poll, 57 percent of Republicans viewed Trump favorably while 40 percent regarded him unfavorably.”
The writer admitted that his beliefs stemmed from the fact that no candidate who has ever been as well known as Trump was able to reverse such poor polling numbers in such a short amount of time.
“Why did I miss Trump’s appeal so badly? Simply put: I had NEVER EVER seen a reversal in how people perceive a candidate who is as well known as Trump — much less a reversal in such a short period of time,” he continued. “I based my conclusion that Trump would never be a relevant player in the Republican primary fight on the ideas that once people 1) know you and 2) don’t like you, you can’t change those twin realities much.”
“That was 100 percent true. Until Donald Trump proved it (and me) wrong. Point taken. Never say ‘never’ in politics. Thanks for reminding me of that old adage, Donald,” Cillizza wrote.
At least Cillizza, unlike most in the MSM, has begun to take the billionaire’s candidacy more seriously and has given a little respect to Trump’s supporters.
