 August 30, 2021 | by Chris Cillizza and Lauren Dezenski Here's Donald Trump's most lasting, damaging legacy  Donald Trump has held very few consistent positions since he began running for president in 2015. The one that stands out? His relentless bashing of the media as "fake news" and insistence that Republicans tune out all forms of mainstream media.
"It is amazing what's happening to the discredited media like CNN, MSDNC, New York Times, and Washington Post," Trump said in a statement released from his Save America PAC earlier this month. "Their businesses have dropped off a cliff, which is actually a very good thing for the American people, because they are Fake News (likewise the networks, ABC, NBC, CBS)."
His six years in public life are littered with just that sort of over-the-top rhetoric, with few actual facts to back his wild claims up.
No matter. A new Pew Research Center analysis shows that the number of Republicans who say they have "a lot" or "some" trust in national news organizations has been sliced in half over the last five years.
In 2016, 70% of self-identified Republicans said they had at least some trust in national news organizations. That number is now 35%.
And in 2020, trust in the national news media fell off a cliff. Almost half (49%) said they had a lot or some trust in the mainstream media in late 2019. That marks a 14-point drop on the question in less than two years.
That precipitous decline is directly attributable to a nonstop -- and largely one-way -- attack on the idea of the media and, even more broadly, capital "T" truth.
Remember that Trump told us exactly what he was up to back in 2018, speaking to a VFW gathering. "Don't believe the crap you see from these people, the fake news," Trump told the crowd. "What you're seeing and what you're reading is not what's happening."
He wanted to be the sole disseminator of information -- and "facts" -- to his base. That desire was driven by selfish and political concerns: Trump wanted to create an alternate reality in which he was winning at everything from the economy to immigration to even Covid-19.
That such a concerted effort would have disastrous and even deadly consequences -- witness the number of unvaccinated Americans unnecessarily dying from Covid-19 -- didn't concern Trump. Vilifying the media, he believed, was a means to his desired end: winning reelection and/or burnishing his political (and personal) brand among the hardcore Trumpist base.
The Point: When history books are written about the legacy Trump left behind after his turbulent four years in office, his assault on truth -- and the role a nonpartisan media plays in society -- will be its defining trait.
-- Chris QUOTE OF THE DAY "I don't think of age as an issue. I mean, how old's Nancy Pelosi?" -- Alabama football coach Nick Saban, who turns 70 in October, using politics to explain why he continues to coach, adding that the octogenarian House speaker is "older than me, and probably has a more important job than me." MONDAY'S MUST-SEE TWEETS  1. What $85 billion in lost equipment in Afghanistan looks like 2. Four legs good, two legs bad 3. Jim Jordan, call your office 4. The Mets being the Mets 5. Happy anniversary, CNN Digital! 🎂🎂🎂 
CHRIS' GOOD READS  These conversations between Gail Collins and Bret Stephens -- both opinion writers for The New York Times -- are always insightful and good. Their latest, on how Biden can bounce back from a hellish week of news, is well worth your time.
I'm a sucker for a good media story. And Ben Smith of the Times delivers one with this piece on the sale of Politico to German giant Axel Springer.
There's been a delay in the delivery of, well, almost everything of late. The New York Times says it's going to be like that for a while still.
So is "Donda," you know, any good? The Ringer investigates.
MUSICAL INTERLUDE The first recording of "Don't Let Me Down" from the Beatles' last concert on the rooftop of the Apple HQ? Sign me up!
-- Chris THE ED DEPARTMENT GETS INVOLVED  The Education Department's civil rights enforcement arm has launched investigations in five states to determine whether statewide policies prohibiting school mask mandates are discriminatory against students with disabilities. The five states are:
The department's Office for Civil Rights is investigating whether these state mask restrictions prevent students with disabilities from "safely returning to in-person education, in violation of federal law."
Investigations have not yet been opened in Florida, Texas, Arkansas or Arizona, all of which ban mask requirements, "because those states' bans on universal indoor masking are not currently being enforced as a result of court orders or other state actions," the agency noted in its release. ONE BIG ELIGIBILITY 16 and over The CDC's Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices voted unanimously to recommend the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine's use in people 16 and older on Monday, following the FDA's decision to grant full licensure to the vaccine. You are receiving this message because you subscribed to CNN's The Point with Chris Cillizza newsletter. Was this email forwarded to you? Sign up now to get The Point in your inbox.
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