It all started 17 months ago when Donald Trump officially announced his campaign for president. Since that time, Trump has adopted an anti-media message, which appears to be reaching a fever pitch.
Trump media war
Right-wing anger directed at the news media isn't anything new. It's become commonplace for conservative Americans to distrust what is known as the "mainstream media," often turning to alternative news sources to get their information.
In the aftermath, news outlets like Breitbart and Info Wars have become widely popular, as the right-wing media has only grown from their days isolated in talk radio, and now dominate much of social media and the internet in general. Since the October surprise hit the 2016 presidential election in the form of a leaked audio tape and nearly a dozen women claiming they were sexually assaulted by Trump, the Republican nominee has defended himself from the claims by accusing the media of working with Hillary Clinton to engage in a "rigged election." As reported by Mediaite on October 24, one CNN host has been on the wrong side of that anger on more than one occasion.
Joining CNN host Wolf Blitzer was network reporter Jim Acosta on Monday night. Over the weekend, a video surfaced of Acosta being harassed by Trump supporters at a Virginia rally, which only highlighted the rage against the media from those who stand with the former host of "The Apprentice." While covering a Trump rally in Florida earlier in the day, Acosta described the new campaign message as "demonetization of the media," where he repeatedly told his supporters to view them as "crooks" and "thieves."
Going further, Acosta noted that he was physically attacked by one female Trump fan. "Just a few moments ago," Acosta said, "A woman hit me with her sign" as the crowd could be heard chanting anti-media profanity behind him.
Election countdown
In just about two weeks, the next President of the United States will be elected by millions of Americans. After over a year and half of campaigning, Trump and Clinton will lead the field of candidates, but only one can walk out a winner. According to the latest round of polling, Trump is trailing Clinton on both a national level and in swing states, as he continues to fall behind with important minority voting blocs.