In the face of Trump, the last barriers are crumbling

During his first presidential campaign in 2016, Trump continually subjected certain major media outlets to public condemnation. His primary targets were CNN, which he labeled as “fake news” and “garbage”, as well as the Washington Post, which he called a “disgrace to journalism”. After Trump’s victory, the Post positioned itself as a staunch guardian of democracy. Founded in 1877, it was determined and aggressive in denouncing Trump’s excesses, attracting the ire of the sitting President, who repeatedly threatened—often in person—Jeff Bezos, its owner who was obviously orchestrating these efforts.

“They will have problems if I become President,” Trump asserted during this campaign, addressing both the Post and CNN, whose reports and editorialists were hostile to him. “They will have so many problems,” he continued, stating that—once President—he would block the imminent merger project between Time Warner, owner of CNN, and AT&T. Trump and his supporters accused CNN of conspiring to suppress votes and belonging to a “power structure” that he would seek to dismantle because “my administration will not allow this merger to go through.” Indeed, the U.S. Department of Justice sued AT&T-Time Warner in November 2017 and blocked their merger. A few months later, moreover, Trump’s pressures on U.S. postal services resulted in increased rates charged to Amazon, while the sitting President tweeted that delivery fees for the company would rise, causing a stock plunge worth about $60 billion.

Fast forward:

In early 2022, as Trump seemed to establish himself as the only valid Republican candidate for the White House, CNN fired Jeff Zucker, its editor-in-chief, replacing him with Chris Licht, presented as “more neutral” toward Trump. The newcomer displayed such leniency that he began to dismiss several journalists critical of Trump, to the point of being fired himself following a revolt from his staff.

Meanwhile, Mark Zuckerberg, head of Meta and a historical adversary of Donald Trump, did not hide (during a YouTube interview) his public admiration for Trump, who rose up after a failed assassination attempt against him. “After being aimed at with a fist raised in front of the American flag, his reaction is one of the most courageous gestures I have ever seen in my life,” Zuckerberg stammered, referring to it as “one of the most badass things I’ve ever seen in my life.”

The Washington Post, for its part, was on the verge of publicly supporting Kamala Harris’s candidacy, following a discussion among editors who had even prepared a draft. However, through its editor-in-chief, Will Lewis, the Post has just declared that it will ultimately not endorse any candidate. This decision was evidently made by Jeff Bezos, who seeks to safeguard his interests in the event of a Trump victory, despite having been fiercely opposed to him in recent years.

Just a few days ago, Mariel Garza, a well-known editorialist at another news outlet, the Los Angeles Times, resigned in protest because her editorial director blocked her article in which she was preparing to support Harris.

After Elon Musk and Peter Thiel—entrepreneur and investor, co-founder of PayPal and Palantir, known for his influence in Silicon Valley—the mega bosses of America are falling like a game of dominoes into Trump’s lap. Before our eyes, the brightest entrepreneurs of their generation are shifting allegiance, even displaying their submission, leaving almost no choice for less powerful and less media-savvy economic leaders. Those who cannot bring themselves to publicly support Trump out of disgust for him remain silent, fearing retaliation if and when he is elected.

Historian Timothy Snyder, in his book On Tyranny, theorized this phenomenon where citizens, anticipating and conforming to a regime without even being coerced, facilitate and reinforce its power. Indeed, it is when individuals or groups voluntarily—and proactively—adopt behaviors conforming to the expectations (or presumed expectations) of those in power, even before orders or instructions have been given, that we identify this “anticipatory obedience”.

This represents an act of voluntary submission that strengthens authoritarian powers, as the population exercises self-control and self-censorship, thereby reducing the need for coercion. It is disheartening for this great American democracy and, incidentally, for the Washington Post. This grand daily, which revealed the Watergate scandals and the Pentagon Papers, has (or had) the slogan—now for 165 years—”Democracy dies in darkness.”