Culture

Waleed Aly Has Called Out The Media For Treating Donald Trump Like A Joke

"By treating Trump like a clown, we failed to recognise him as a potential president."

by Osman Faruqi  10 October 2016

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Donald Trump has absolutely dominated the headlines since a recording emerged of him making incredibly sexist comments back in 2005. But it’s clearly not the first time Trump has said something outrageous, incredibly offensive, or both.

Muslims, Mexicans, immigrants and women are all groups who have been targeted by Trump over the course of his election campaign. But despite all the controversies the Trump machine continues to power on.

Tonight on The Project, co-host Waleed Aly argued that the media has to accept some of the responsibility when to comes to the “Trump circus”.

In a segment written by Aly and Tom Whitty, The Project’s Managing Editor, the show’s co-host condemned Trump’s history of offensive comments.

“He’s told us Mexicans are rapists, he’s encouraged violence at his rallies, he’s called for a ban on the immigration of Muslims, he’s aligned himself with white supremacists, he’s advocated torture, and the murder of women and children in the hunt for terrorists,” Aly said.


But despite controversy after controversy, the story continues to move on, with Trump often treated more like a harmless joke than a potentially dangerous and powerful politician. That needs to change, according to Aly.

“By treating Trump like a clown, we failed to recognise him as a potential president,” Aly said. “We all need to change, me included.

“As part of ‘the media’, we can’t continue to be so narrow in our thinking, our reporting, our analysis. You deserve better, and we need to own up to that. So we’re making the commitment, between now and the election, not to joke about Trump. Because sexism is no laughing matter. Racism is no laughing matter. Inciting violence is no laughing matter. Sexual assault is no laughing matter. And for those reasons and sadly more, Donald Trump is no laughing matter.”

As part of the shift in strategy, The Project is trying to push the hashtag #TrumpIsNoLaughingMatter.