Pity America’s right-wing media. After four years of backing the right party, recent events have left the likes of Fox News struggling for oxygen. The election result is not the cause; it was far less of a landslide win for Mr Boring than the polls predicted. Many of those alleging voter fraud even used this unexpectedly slim margin as part of their narrative. The problem, then, is not with backing the losing side.
Indeed, supporting the loser is just part of the job for American TV networks. They tend to be either so left-leaning that the cameraman has Rasta dreads and lives in a bivouac, or so right that they're doing whatever the opposite of that is. Both are nuts, but both also have decades of experience being in opposition, deftly ignoring the minor bum moves of their chosen side. And when these mistakes become too large to ignore, they know a hundred ways to frame them in the best possible way.
But Murdoch’s baby and its compatriots faced two key obstacles to their usual spin. Firstly, all but the most trivial allegations of voting fraud came to zilch. Multi-volume dossiers were levelled at the highest possible authority after weeks of preparation, only to be kicked out with a curt, single-sentence response. Occasionally, some very minor abnormalities were leapt upon. The ‘A blue biro was used instead of a blue felt tip’ kind, which even the most miserable of the UK’s own civil servants might ignore as long as the weather outside isn’t too pissy. And that was it.
If the first obstacle was a significant inconvenience – even for an experienced broadcaster like Fox – then what came next must have seemed more of an involuntary prison shower gangbang. For the first time in two hundred years, Capitol Hill was under attack – not by the British (for right-wing media, that would have been pretty good) or by hippy folks shouting CULTURAL APPROPRIATION at unsuspecting street furniture (that would have been amazing, please, come back whenever you like). But these attackers were, from the right wing’s perspective, the wrong sort. The kind that makes it hard to be a right-wing media presenter, in the same way that Antifa keeps CNN execs up at night. They were Trump’s hardcore supporters – a mixture of the traditional hard right and followers of the Trump cult of personality.
Overnight, the tone turned. “These guys are not our friends” was the typical line taken. Perhaps sensing that the majority of Republicans are raising eyebrows at what their more extreme fellows were doing, Fox made clear efforts to condemn the bad guys. And when Trump announced his love for mob, the right-wing broadcasters turned on him, too. Granted, the more lunatic news networks kept their stance. One America News network continues to support Trump, but their approach to fact-checking is similar to Darth Vader’s approach to conflict resolution. The voices that matter the most have distanced themselves from a soon-to-disappear leader.
Until, that is, Twitter made its move. Trump was banned, permanently.
This makes sense, the microblogging site claims. Tensions are rife, and following the flurry of glass – smashing, camera – gurning and feet-up-in-offices-of-politicians-we-hate, Trump made a couple of tweets that, in the current messy context, were considered by the site to be inciting further violence. They may have a point. There were many people who would have doubtless backed the Orange man, should he decide to have an American Orange Revolution. There were many more who considered the election results - or the system in general - to be skewed against them.
But it has also given a struggling right-wing media the air they need to breathe again. The response from the right was predictable. Nikki Haley, the former UN ambassador and a staunch Trumpist, compared her former boss being censored to ‘what happens in China’ when people try to speak out. Donald Trump Junior pointed out that dictators around the world have Twitter accounts, yet Trump cannot. The timing of the events makes this particularly relevant. Only hours earlier, Twitter had removed the Iranian Ayatollah’s latest anti-West moan regarding coronavirus vaccines. Yet despite Iran's shaky human rights record, the super-cleric is still allowed an account.
Bravo, Twitter. Whatever your reasoning, you have forced a state of affairs which fits a classic right-wing media trope better than Widow Twankey in Cinderella. Firstly, that Big Tech colludes with the far left. Secondly, that the far-left will do anything to silence their critics. And thirdly, that the left are quick to point out any flaws in republican individuals and practices, yet have a blind spot for dictators who outright rape human rights in the face.
Twitter’s reaction could have been different. It could have extended the ban until after Biden’s inauguration, or until some point in the future when Trump convinces the site that he will not encourage people to engage in historical recreation too enthusiastically. It could have continued to remove any tweets that might promote window-smashing, drawn guns and other signs of passionate debate. It could have sent him an email claiming to represent a wealthy, recently deceased Nigerian prince. Instead, just as the conservative news networks were giving up in their fumbling for a new script, Twitter handed them one on a bright blue, bird-shaped platter.