Why did Marine Le Pen, often portrayed as the French equivalent of Trump, lose by a huge margin? Because France’s conservatives were only willing to go so far; they simply would not support a candidate whose motives and qualifications they distrusted.
Sinclair Pays a Rich Premium to Challenge Fox
The broadcaster is paying a 26 percent premium for its rival after the Trump administration relaxed a wave of regulations. Tribune gives Sinclair more heft to mount a challenge to Rupert Murdoch’s Fox News.
.. With the addition of Tribune’s 42 TV stations, Sinclair will cover more than 70 percent of households in the United States. That will transform it into the largest local broadcast owner by far.
.. Longer term, the big question is whether Mr. Ripley is starting a ratings war with 21st Century Fox. Mr. Murdoch’s media conglomerate is embroiled in a series of sexual-harassment scandals that have troubled its United States news network, which has a conservative-leaning viewership.
.. The broadcaster already has a good relationship with the administration of President Trump; his adviser and son-in-law, Jared Kushner, even said the Trump campaign had struck a deal with Sinclair for better coverage, according to Politico, which the company has denied.
.. Mr. Ripley also has a few former Fox stars he may woo, including those who left under a cloud — not least Bill O’Reilly.
National Review: The Editors: The AHCA Passes the House
- Heritage Foundation: Jim DeMint
- Wall Street Journal: editorial page lost Brett Stephens
- FoxNews
The Post-Trumpism Presidency Begins
the persistence of liberal Trump Derangement Syndrome is a big part of the defend-Trump-no-matter-what dynamic. Because the mainstream media and the Democrats are so unhinged in their criticisms of Trump, they give no room for thoughtful criticism. Lots of normal Trump voters are frustrated with his presidency so far. But the partisan inanity of Trump’s left-wing critics makes it difficult not to run to his defense.
.. Take, for example, Sean Spicer’s “Not even Hitler” gaffe. I made fun of the guy, because the statement was so painfully dumb. (I like to imagine a homunculus Spicer in the control room in his head completely freaking out as he loses control of Spicer’s speech center. “I’ve got no brakes! I got no brakes!!”) But liberals had to take it straight to eleven, by calling Spicer a Holocaust denier and an anti-Semite. C’mon. Some even claimed the statement was a deliberate attempt to signal . . . something.
This reminds me of one of my biggest gripes about Bush Derangement Syndrome. His critics would simultaneously argue that Bush was a blithering idiot, but also an evil mastermind
.. for a lot of his rank-and-file supporters, it’s more complicated. They’re invested in Trump first and Trumpism second, if at all.
.. The danger .. is that Trump could end up redefining conservatism .. as “whatever Trump does.”
.. Trump isn’t an ideological or philosophical conservative. He has no ideology or philosophy, rightly understood.
.. I have zero confidence that Trump will reliably and consistently trade opportunities for political success — “wins” — for conservative victories over time. I also never bought that he was a particularly good manager.
.. that hope rests, as I said last week, on conservatives restricting his range of possible political options solely to conservative policies.
.. in conservatives in Congress defining what counts as a win in the realm of the possible and then nudging, coaxing, flattering, or tricking him in that direction.