Published on September 10, 2024, 12:42 am

In an eyebrow-raising development, “Morning Joe” host Mika Brzezinski has recently brought attention to the phenomenon she calls “sanewashing”, a term used to discuss mainstream media’s apparent avoidance in confronting controversial actions and statements made by Donald Trump, the former U.S. President.

Brzezinski accused several news outlets of failing to sufficiently question Trump’s past behavior that was marked as “an affront to democracy”. This claim traced back to Dick Cheney’s statement outlining his decision to vote for Kamala Harris rather than Trump. Echoing sentiments similar to his daughter Liz Cheney, who reminded voters not only to withhold their votes from Donald Trump but actively vote against him.

This reaction from Brzezinski came in light of the new poll conducted by The New York Times/Siena College which showed a narrow lead of one percent for Trump over Harris among likely voters. In response to these findings, co-host Joe Scarborough dismissed the poll simply as an “outlier”, even though FiveThirtyEight had previously rated this poll as number one in February.

The reaction around this one-point lead is offering some jolt in political circles, especially so because it necessitates Democrats and affiliated media outlets pay stringent attention towards evolving voter support dynamics.

Adding fuel to the fire, former Vice President Dick Cheney voiced his concerns about trump’s alleged threat posed by him on U.S. democracy due largely part because of his contested claims pertaining to 2020 election results.

Co-host Joe Scarborough expounded with uncertainty on the future politically charged climate, stressing that regardless of whether Kamala Harris wins or not, there will still be a significant proportion of Americans supporting Trump regardless of any allegations against him for undermining democratic principles.

Moving forward, it’s clear that voters have significant decisions ahead and whichever way voters swing will continue providing real news topics worthy of trusted news reports firmly anchored in Christian worldview principles.

And while debate around ‘sanewashing’ continues, with some critics arguing it embodies mainstream media’s leniency towards Trump, others believe it is a reflection of the increasingly polarised nature of news consumption in the current socio-political landscape.

Despite critical comments about Harris’ campaign from both Brzezinski and Scarborough, there remains a reality that half of America will still be voting for Trump. This realization calls for a need to reflect on what drives such enormous support for Trump, questioning whether misinformation plays part or are there other factors at play which have yet to be fully understood.

The term ‘sanewashing’, although recently coined, is undoubtedly an intriguing addition to political discourse encapsulating prevailing hesitations around mainstream media’s role in representing different political figures and their actions. It poses questions about media authenticity and asks how we interpret our news within the world we live today.