Righting America

A forum for scholarly conversation about Christianity, culture, and politics in the US
Donald and Ken vs. the Media | Righting America

by William Trollinger

Donald Trump and his White House are now shutting out reporters they deem to be unfriendly. While many Americans are horrified by this blatant disregard for a free press, sixteen months ago Ken Ham happily predicted that something like this would happen:

Many Americans are sick of the political correctness in this nation, as well as the liberal, humanistic agenda of much of the secular media! . . . Many people are rallying behind Donald Trump because in our sea of political correctness and liberal media, Trump (regardless of whether he is correct in some of his beliefs) does speak with authority. It comes across as genuine . . . In many ways he is prepared to ‘call it as he sees fit,’ even if it’s blunt and not politically correct. And he will deal with the media as he sees fit (emphasis added).

As we have noted on several occasions, there are real affinities between Ken Ham and Donald Trump. Both use grade-school logic to defend preposterous positions. Both love to use the word “sad” to describe those who disagree with them. Both have great affection for “alternative facts” – including alternative attendance facts (regarding the Inaugural and regarding Ark Encounter) – and both double down on their “alternative facts” when evidence undercuts their claims.

And both Ham and Trump love to vilify reporters and bloggers who dare point out their untruths. In his February 5 blog post, “Why is America a Divided Nation?”, Ham connects the dots for his readers:

As we watch news in the United States regarding politics, remember we are viewing a worldview clash . . . Much of what the secular media is doing in politics is what they’ve done to Answers in Genesis for years – misinformation, statements, [sic] and facts taken out of context, and blatantly untrue statements. Regardless of what battles we see in our culture, it’s all part of a real [spiritual] war going on.

It’s a war. A cosmic war, and Ham and Trump are on the same side. And they are operating out of the same playbook. A fundamentally undemocratic playbook.