It was a malicious campaign. The Republican candidate challenging the incumbent Democratic president has made subtle accusations that he is conspiring with others to change the outcome of the election.
No, this was a campaign from 1940, not 2024.
That year, Republican presidential candidate Wendell Willkie accused Franklin D. Roosevelt of plotting to start World War II. Willkie falsely accused Roosevelt of calling Adolf Hitler and Benito Mussolini urging them to “sell Czechoslovakia down the river.” Willkie argued that Roosevelt “demanded a war for which the nation was hopelessly unprepared” and sought a war “resolutely did not want” for the purpose of keeping him in office.
These claims infuriated Roosevelt, who described himself as a “crazy fighter.” In a speech in Philadelphia, he rebuked the insidious charges, telling a crowd of partisan Democrats: “True campaign debate on public issues is essential to our form of government.”
But he added, “Intentional misrepresentation of facts is not acceptable during an election or at any other time.” Among his “deliberate misrepresentations,” Roosevelt noted that “the unfortunate unemployed of the country will be driven into concentration camps” and that “the election of this administration will mean the end of American democracy within four years.”
Roosevelt described the methods used by foreign dictators abroad and his political opposition at home to gain support: “I came to believe it.” As a result, he claimed, ‘fear’ and ‘suspicion’ were instilled in government and democracy itself.
Nonetheless, he reassured his listeners that democracy would triumph thanks to a free and fair press. “I can’t believe that in a democracy like ours. . . Repetition of deliberate misrepresentation will always triumph.”
Today, Donald Trump repeatedly makes deliberate misstatements without any need for rebuttal through universally trusted media outlets. Weekly newspaper circulation has fallen by more than half since 1940. And the audiences for the three network evening news programs have shrunk to a fraction of what they once were. There is no Walter Cronkite ending a news broadcast with “And that’s just the way it is.”
Instead, there are numerous news outlets designed to convey comfort rather than information. Conservatives flock to cable channels like Fox News and Newsmax, while liberals watch MSNBC. A recent Pew Research Center poll found that most Americans want reporters to share their politics more than any other personal characteristic.
Making viewers feel comfortable means partisan news networks are held in high regard. Fox News is the king of ratings. But the reemergence of Donald Trump and his courtroom theatrics has catapulted MSNBC (which Trump mocks as “MSDNC”) to second place in the ratings. Meanwhile, ratings for traditional news outlet CNN have fallen to historic lows.
These developments have created tensions within traditionally minded newsrooms. The New York Times recently described how when MSNBC’s No. 1 host Rachel Maddow broadcast part of Donald Trump’s victory speech live on her Super Tuesday, she berated her boss on air. According to the Times, NBC’s establishment journalists “vaccinated between malice and resignation” over the partisanship seen at its sister network. Local NBC stations have called on network executives to do more to maintain their nonpartisan brand.
The result is a journalistic and partisan minefield. The editor of the Cleveland Plain Dealer explains how some pro-Trump readers regularly accuse him of ignoring the Biden family’s criminal enterprise and other criminal activities. His answer was direct. “The North Star here is truth. “We tell the truth, even if it offends some of the people who pay us for their information.”
But fact-based, reliable reporting is quickly becoming irrelevant. Viewers often watch news channels or log into their favorite Internet websites not to get information, but to confirm what they already believe.
As a result, Franklin Roosevelt’s confidence that democracy would survive thanks to a free and fair press no longer holds true. A gifted showman like Donald Trump can decry ‘fake news’ and find news executives whose most important thing is ratings.
During the 2016 campaign, CBS Chairman and CEO Les Moonves said of Trump’s rise, “It may not be good for America, but it’s a really good thing for CBS.”
“In the age of disinformation, information people can trust is more important than ever,” Joe Biden told the press at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner. “And that makes you more important than ever.”
In his Philadelphia speech, Franklin Roosevelt reminded us that the presidency is “not a commodity to be sold by high-pressure salesmanship” but “a most sacred trust.”
Maintaining that trust isn’t just for those seeking the presidency. It is the media’s responsibility to provide voters with accurate information as they enter the polls to perform their most sacred duty as citizens.
Today, those bonds of trust have been broken. And our democracy is at stake.
John Kenneth White is a professor of political science at The Catholic University of America. His latest book is titled “Grand Old Unraveling: The Republican Party, Donald Trump, and the Rise of Authoritarianism.” He can be contacted at: johnkennethwhite.com.
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