We have a new definition of “chutzpah.” It is Donald Trump blaming the media for the reaction to the provocative and unfiltered statements he makes to the media at every possible opportunity.
Trump was phoning it in, literally, last week to virtually every news show to defend comments he had made about Fox moderator Megyn Kelly, blame the media for the negative reaction he got, then doubling down unapologetically on what he describes as his lack of political correctness.
The GOP presidential front-runner has clearly tapped into some wellspring of unhappiness with the way Washington works, and frequently doesn’t. But if the media has helped shine a spotlight on his politically correct statements, it has also given him the platform to grow from a seeming gadfly to a 600-pound hornet whose sting is not reserved for Democrats or Fox moderators.
There is no getting around the fact that the media have jumped on Donald Trump as good copy and great ratings (check out those debate numbers). He has helped to inject some real interest in a crowded Republican field that, at other times, would probably have to be winnowed before it reaped some real viewer interest beyond the political junkies.
Trump has reveled in the attention and used the megaphone for all its worth, including to take shots at his opponents and critics, which is a pretty big target.
He is, if anything, an equal opportunity insulter. It is, perhaps, too much to say the media made Trump into the viable candidate he appears to be. But it is ludicrous for him to seek out that spotlight and then complain about what it reveals.
