As we prepare to enter the Joe Biden era of American politics, it's worth reflecting on some of the things we're going to miss about life under the Trump administration.
One industry in particular that was utterly transformed under Trump's leadership—and will be similarly disrupted by a return to "normalcy"—is the professional journalism industry.
Political reporters and opinion columnists (to the extent there is a difference) developed a number of charming quirks over the course of Trump's presidency that, for whatever reason, are unlikely to carry over into the Biden administration.
Here are a few of the Trump-era journalism quirks you're going to miss when he's gone:
1. Combative questioning
CNN correspondent Jim Acosta rarely breaks news, but he frequently shouts questions at the president and other administration officials and once tussled with a White House intern who tried to take away his microphone. Biden doesn't really like or respect journalists, but he doesn't hurt their feelings the way Trump does.
2. Fact checks!
CNN will presumably keep Daniel Dale on staff as a full-time Donald Trump fact checker. What else is he going to do? As for all the other journalists hell bent on speaking truth to power, when it comes to fact-checking the Biden administration, their hearts just won't be in it, and it'll show.
3. Exposing billionaire pedophiles
See: "Investigative Reporting." If you asked journalists who deserves credit for Jeffrey Epstein's long-overdue demise, they'd say it was journalists. As usual, they'd be wrong. If anyone deserves credit for taking Epstein down, it is Donald Trump, whose nominee for labor secretary, Alex Acosta, was previously involved in prosecuting Epstein in Florida. Finding a Trump-related angle is what finally convinced (a handful of local) journalists to start investigating the Epstein case after more than a decade of indifference.
4. Writing a bestselling book
To name a few:
5. Writing the same opinion column over and over again
"Trump isn't just bad, he's historically bad (and racist), which is bad for America." This single sentence summarizes more than 90 percent of the opinion columns published in major newspapers over the past four years. If you thought Jennifer Rubin and Max Boot were irrelevant now, you won't believe how irrelevant they're going to seem in six months.
6. Writing fawning profiles of other journalists
In the past month alone, Esquire published an "Oral History of CNN's Election Week," and the following articles were published about CNN political correspondent Abby Phillip:
7. Referring to journalists as "heroes"
See: the title of Acosta's book. It's easier to envision yourself as a hero when you're shouting at a "dangerous" president, less so when the president is a nice old man and your job consists of retweeting memes about Kamala's dangerously trendy footwear.
8. Treating politicians like politicians (not celebs)
See: "Combative Questioning." Thanks to Trump, journalists started treating presidents the way they deserve to be treated. That's unlikely to continue with a Democrat in the White House. The political media, for example, will persist in covering Kamala Harris like a celebrity fashion icon.
April Ryan, a radio reporter and CNN analyst, recently offered a glimpse into the future (and pre-Trump past) of political journalism. While interviewing former president Barack Obama about his latest memoir, Ryan praised his "brilliance" and called him "one of my fondest memories."
The media's transition from combative truth seekers to obsequious stargazers began immediately after Biden was declared the winner of the 2020 election. For example:
9. Snarky chyrons
See: Below.
10. CNN
See: All of the above.
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