Since Donald Trump announced his presidential candidacy in June of 2015, his position in the polls has skyrocketed.
Many data analysts and journalists predicted that Trump’s lead within the GOP would collapse sooner or later, but in fact, the opposite has been true.
In Mid-July, Trump surpassed Jeb Bush in average polling, reported by Real Clear Politics at about 15%.
By the first Iowa caucus in February 2016, he had shot up to 35%.
Despite being repeatedly demonized in the media for xenophobic and inflammatory comments, some are saying that the media is at fault.
So, is the media responsible for the rise of Donald Trump?
Well, there is little debate that Trump’s campaign has been incredibly noteworthy for its relationship with the media.
Although incendiary rhetoric is nothing new for political candidates, Trump has managed to repeatedly provoke mainstream media outlets, calling them “dishonest” and “scum”.
But at the same time, it has been clear that news organizations can only thrive when they have high ratings and high readership, and candidates like Trump have led to exactly that.
When Trump dropped out of the Republican debate in late January, the debate reached roughly 12.5 million viewers.
