After The Washington Post reported on Trump’s suggestion that President Obama was somehow complicit in the Orlando terrorist attack, his campaign revoked the news organization’s press credentials. It is a populism grounded in division, and the faux folk anthems that the guitar-strumming Roberts sings at his massive campaign rallies are hymns to greed (“I will take my inheritance and invest it with pride”) and diatribes against political correctness, Arabs and “lazy people” who “complain and complain and complain” about their lot in life.
– Is Donald Trump running for president simply as a means of launching his own cable news network? That's the theory put forth by Vanity Fair, quoting anonymous sources close to the situation. Trump is reportedly "irked" that he's bringing in big ratings for other networks without getting any of the profits himself. “He wants to figure out if he can monetize it,” a source says. He's allegedly consulting with daughter Ivanka Trump and son-in-law Jared Kushner on a "mini-media conglomerate." His reasoning, according to a source: “We’ve triggered a base of the population that hasn’t had a voice in a long time.” A Trump spokesperson denies Trump is even thinking about such a thing. But immediately after, Trump tweeted: "The press is so totally biased that we have no choice but to take our tough but fair and smart message directly to the people!” New York Magazine says the theory makes sense. This is the first time it's unclear whether a presidential candidate actually wants to be president. Trump is historically unpopular and shows little interest in changing that, and he's half-assing basic tasks of running for president, such as calling donors. Trump TV would be the "logical end" of his campaign, according to New Republic. “If Trump’s TV station gets 30% ratings, it’ll be doing fantastically well," the website states. "But if that’s his share of the vote, then his candidacy will end in failure.” Transitioning from presidential candidate to media baron wouldn't be easy. Trump would still need a partner for funding and would likely need to buy an existing cable channel. “It’s a fool’s errand,” an entertainment executive tells Vanity Fair. “But then again, we are talking about Donald Trump.” (Did this 1992 movie predict Trump's campaign?)