Trump-induced delirium tremens completely dominates the airwaves on Norway’s state broadcaster NRK and other mainstream media. This has been the case over the last few days, and was at its worst this morning and early afternoon, just hours before the US mid-term elections.
Under Ida Creed’s presentation, phrases such as ‘fear of Trump’, ‘how dangerous is Trump to the world?’, ‘could Trump become more dangerous after the election?’ and “can Trump be stopped?”, “will Trump seek revenge?” etc. used liberally, in a highly panicked manner and clearly caught up in a kind of hysteria unworthy of any journalism.
Should have been reported
The entire programme should have been reported as pure political scare-mongering, ideally to the police and the prosecution service under the heading ‘widespread lies and hysteria’.
Expert after expert came and went, expressing extreme scepticism towards Trump, and the vast majority used terms such as “fear” and “dangerous”, with particular emphasis on “how dangerous», implying «how much more dangerous» Trump might be expected to become if he lost both chambers (the House of Representatives and the Senate). «What revenge» might he strike back with?
It was abundantly clear that this was precisely what NRK was hoping for – namely, a total electoral collapse for Trump – without any nuance whatsoever; but suddenly, Creed & co. were once again gripped by the delirium of fear, and once again began to dwell on ‘Trump’s brutal revenge’ following a potential defeat, or even that he might annul the entire election, as Civita expert Eirik Løkke asserted in his most cocky manner.
The gutter of journalism
Tuesday’s programme was laced with fear, warnings and hysterical coverage of Trump the likes of which I have scarcely ever seen. And we Norwegians, who sometimes see certain positive traits in Trump – both politically and personally – know all too well what NRK and TV 2 have subjected us to since 2016: completely meaningless and wildly biased coverage of Trump and the US, steeped in prejudiced hysteria intended for indoctrination and brainwashing of the worst kind, belonging in the gutter of journalism.
But the last few days have broken all records. The fact that this is ‘merely’ a mid-term election in which relatively little is at stake for the President – although he may lose some political power in terms of actual exercise of authority – fully demonstrates just how excessive and panicky this coverage has been.
As I sit here writing this, I can hear the clamour. NRK has not yet reached the peak of its pathological Trump-climax complex; there’s still more to come – just wait until the actual election coverage begins, once the results start trickling in tonight. Goodness me!
