A group of Generation Z voters mainly agreed that mainstream media outlets have gotten “so corrupted” in their hostility against President-elect Donald Trump that it influenced the election.
On Wednesday, the New York Times conducted a focus group with 13 undecided voters to gauge their reactions to the election. Though the majority of them voted for President Biden or were too young to vote in 2020, more over half now acknowledge to voting for Trump, with only two voting for Vice President.
Many of them relied heavily on the press to make their decisions.
Joseph, a 24-year-old former Biden voter from South Carolina, stated that “the mainstream media was carrying Kamala Harris’s water. A healthy democracy requires checks and balances on the president. If Kamala Harris were elected, the media would have no way of checking her.
Abigail, a 23-year-old former Biden voter from Virginia, stated, “I saw how the media has become so corrupted in their cause against Trump.” There was that Trump tape where he said, “Put Cheney in front of a bunch of shooters.” But he wasn’t proposing that Cheney should be shot. I cannot vote for an establishment that believes it is acceptable to lie to us.”
Georgia student George, 21, also commented on the deceptive Liz Cheney tale, calling it “just despicable.” He continued, “Seeing The Washington Post’s reaction to not endorsing a candidate — people resigning — it’s hell on Earth over there.” And the New York Times is definitely prejudiced. Everyone is being so unfair to Trump.”
Lillian, a 27-year-old 2020 Trump voter from Virginia, said she chose to vote for Trump after witnessing the media’s “meltdown” over Trump’s rally at Madison Square Garden.
Jack, a 22-year-old 2020 Biden supporter from New York, admitted that the press applies a “double standard when it comes to Trump versus Harris or just the Democrats in general.”
We witnessed that with Biden’s ‘trash’ comment. That was kind of brushed over. Unfortunately, I’ve seen people on MSNBC and The Times claim Kamala ran a fantastic campaign. “Maybe it’s because Trump had substance and Kamala just ran on joy,” Jack suggested.
“They went after Trump but never after Kamala.” They have their own biases. And they let it infiltrate into their election coverage,” Mark, a 24-year-old California 2020 Biden voter, concurred.
Some people praised Trump and Vice President-elect JD Vance for their media appearances, with one deciding to vote for Trump after reading Vance’s New York Times interview. Others welcomed Trump’s appearance on “The Joe Rogan Experience.”
Joseph stated that he decided to vote for Trump after hearing him on Rogan because “he just seemed more normal than the other side.”
“The Joe Rogan interview was extremely important for me. Trump gladly agreed to a three-hour open, honest talk with Joe Rogan, a former Bernie buddy. “I think it’s very telling about which candidate is authentic and which is not,” Jack, a 22-year-old former Biden voter from New York, said.
Lillian proposed that Trump and Vance continue to appear on Rogan regularly while in government as “a cool way to check in and give a progress update.”
Some of them also criticized Harris’ lack of media appearances, claiming that the ones she did hurt her – one said he decided to vote for Trump after Harris appeared on the “Call Her Daddy” podcast.
“I was seeking for a candidate who I could trust. A major moment that stood out to me was Harris’s ‘S.N.L.’ act, in which she effectively poked fun of herself. Her whole emphasis was on the entertainment industry, avoiding interviews. Laura, a 20-year-old intern from Maryland, stated, “That came off as very phony.”
Laura, who voted for a write-in candidate, also expressed concern about “Harris doing a lot of entertainment interviews and not focusing on actual interviews.”
Overall, many people hoped that in the future, biased media outlets would receive less attention, and that the press would be more balanced.
“I hope that people take the mainstream media less seriously and do their own research to know what candidates actually believe,” Joseph told the crowd.
Abigail concurred; “Yeah, I hope that in four years, the mainstream media wakes up and sees everybody is fine and stops calling Republicans fascists just because they disagree with them.”
