I’m a writer, actor, director, DJ, singer, editor, dancer, father….basically, I create. I create a lot. If you wanna follow me, I’ll be delighted to have you.

Mar 2, 2016

How Conservatives And Fox News Created The Unstoppable TRUMP Monster

These are certainly interesting times we live in. You’ve got Donald Trump out there dominating the national spotlight, winning a hotly-contested Super Tuesday handily. You have record voter turnout numbers on the Republican end of the spectrum. You have Trump vowing to rip Hillary Clinton apart, and seemingly having tons of ammo with which to do so.

But if you think the Republican establishment is delighted with all of this, you’d be wrong. You’d be very, very wrong.

Yes, there is chaos up on Mount Reagan, as leading Republican voices are trying desperately to slow Trump’s momentum- even as an air of inevitability overtakes the proceedings.

And yet, who can we blame for The Donald’s meteoric- and seemingly unstoppable- rise? Conservatives themselves.

Yes, they created this monster, and now the monster has reared back and bitten its creator. It’s a classic tale, really.

But how did it get to this? Let’s explore.

Over the course of the last eight years, the Republicans in Congress have done their absolute best to undermine President Obama. Republican leaders like Mitch McConnell have been very vocal, and very public, about their desire to be as obstructive as possible. The result has been a Congress that’s been referred to as “the least productive Congress in history.” In fact, the 112th congress passed even fewer bills than the infamous “Do-Nothing” 80th Congress of 1947–1949- which passed 906 bills.

The bullish nature of the current Republican party also lead to the notorious government shutdown of 2013- which boasted Trump’s chief rival Ted Cruz as its poster child.

The unintended consequence of all of this obstruction- which continues to this day, as GOP Senators remain adamant about blocking any and all of President Obama’s nominees to fill Antonin Scalia’s seat on the Supreme Court- is that there are a great many people who simply don’t trust the government anymore. They’re angry. Problem is, Republicans had hoped the anger would be directed at President Obama.

Turns out all of this obstruction was more of a murder-suicide.

Their efforts managed to not just tarnish President Obama’s time in office, but also to make anyone who comes from this unproductive federal government seem radioactive to the Republican base. Oh, the irony.

But why Trump? There were other candidates out there. At one point the Republican field had north of 15 people vying for a Presidential run. Some old names; Some new names. Some who’ve been in government for decades, and others who are fresh faces. You’ve got novices like Ben Carson, who’s a neurosurgeon, and Donald Trump, a businessman.

Of all of the available options, how did Trump manage to steamroll them all?

That’s where Fox News comes into play.

The network, which fairly openly acts as a mouthpiece and an attack dog for the Republican party, has been setting the stage for a candidate like Trump for many years now.

See, over the years, studies have shown us a lot about the “info-tainment” outlet:

The network has, essentially, taken the idea that “You can have your own opinions, but you can’t have your own facts” and spun it on its head. In essence, they’ve made an art form out of reporting on things as if their opinions are facts. They’ve created an atmosphere where facts are meaningless, and it’s more about saying something loudly rather than something truthfully.

Folks who get their news primarily from Fox News have, essentially, been living in a bubble for the last several years. A bubble where the country is rapidly on the verge of collapse, World War III is actively happening, Obama is coming for your guns, Mexicans are going to rape your children, and Muslims are going to bomb your cities.

The thing is, you can’t feed a group of people this constant stream of “we’re all doomed” and expect them to want to vote for someone who comes from the system that you’re claiming to have doomed us. It would appear that even Fox News viewers, to their credit, know that President Obama is only one man, and that if the government really is a disaster and everything is going to hell that it’s the entire system that has to be looked at- which includes Republican Senators and Congressmen!

Enter Donald Trump…

You’ve been feeding people rage, doom, and gloom? He’s happy to echo that.

You’ve been saying that the government has been destroying the country? He’s a political outsider!

You think that “Might makes Right,” and that the loudest man is the strongest man? You’ll never find a louder man than Donald Trump.

You’ve conditioned an entire segment of the public to not worry about facts, data, and actual history? Donald Trump hates facts, data, and actual history!

It’s perfect.

Trump. Is. Perfect.

And, you see, that last one is the kicker. The GOP is baffled by the fact that there’s nothing he can be accused of that will change people’s minds of him. So even when they point to his failed businesses, his hiring of illegal workers, his track record of backing liberal politicians (including Hillary Clinton), his flip-flopping on issues ranging from the Second Amendment, Abortion, and Universal Healthcare, they can’t seem to make a dent.

You can’t make facts irrelevant and then act surprised when Trump is impervious to them.

Donald Trump is the Frankenstein monster, created by the current Conservative Republican party. He’s taken over the castle, thrown them out, and now the establishment has no choice but to march towards its doors with torches and pitchforks in a futile effort to stop what they, themselves, created.

Oops.

You can follow Mario-Francisco Robles on Twitter: @I_AM_MFR