Michael Gerson was a speech writer for George Bush. He is a Republican who understands how the conservative media helped to make Donald Trump, and how it has tarnished the Republican Party. It has created a core constituency in the Republican Party that feeds on messages of outrage that cannot be packaged and sold in a general election. The leader of the pack has been Fox News which has the largest cable news audience. Rupert Murdoch once responded to a critic of Fox News with a simple answer. Murdoch told him to look at Fox New's market share. It was telling its viewers what they wanted to hear. Fox News was just responding to market demand.
Fox News is still the leader of the pack but it is part of a media industry that reinforces the fears and anxieties of a large number of Americans. The major players in this industry are described in this article. They supported Donald Trump in his primary campaign which was directed at the "Republican Establishment". They continue to support Trump in the general election but it has placed the Republican Party in a bind. It has become dependent on Trump's base, and the conservative media industry. It can't survive without that base but it may alter the GOP brand beyond repair. The Republican National Committee is supporting Trump's campaign at its own peril. They will lose the election as well as younger and better educated Americans who have a new picture of the Republican Party.
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