Media using Trump-Bannon feud as convenient distraction

This should have been an enormously successful week for the Donald Trump administration. The DOW crossed 25,000 for the first time; layoffs are the lowest they’ve been since 1990; a new report shows the private sector added 250,000 jobs last month.

But the media isn’t covering any of that.

{mosads}The nation’s leading pundits, analysts and journalists aren’t paying any attention to President Trump’s recent achievements because their focus is squarely on Trump’s rivalry with his former chief strategist, Steve Bannon.

For anyone who’s been living under a rock this week: An explosive excerpt from a new book by Michael Wolff, titled “Fire & Fury,” claims that Bannon called the 2016 meeting between Trump campaign officials and a Russian lawyer “treasonous.” The president fired back by releasing a lengthy statement, in which he claimed that when Bannon “was fired, he not only lost his job, he lost his mind.”

Since the book excerpt’s release on Wednesday, the Trump-Bannon rivalry has dominated the news. During this week’s White House press briefings, sanctimonious reporters lined up to ask press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders question after question about the rift and about whether or not Trump is “mentally fit” to run the nation.

The media frenzy encapsulates exactly why so many Americans are fed up with the mainstream media.

As the nation faces a potential government shutdown, grapples with how to handle hundreds of thousands of illegal immigrants demanding amnesty, and prepares for a major midterm election just around the corner, the media intentionally ignores these critical topics.

Yes, the Trump and Bannon squabble is deserving of some coverage. But the media’s singular and relentless focus on the story proves, once again, its level of flagrant bias and seething hatred for Trump.

To be fair, Trump only made things worse for himself when he responded to Bannon’s alleged comments with blistering personal attacks. Never before has a sitting president issued such a statement. Yet, in many ways, such a response was to be expected from Trump: In typical fashion, he punched back rather than brushing off the former aide’s statements and moving on. Trump is a fighter and everyone knows it. His supporters love that about him and it’s one of the big reasons he was elected in 2016.

But the president would be smart to focus his fire on big-government Democrats and obstructionist Republicans like John McCain — not on a fellow populist conservative like Bannon.

Ultimately, Trump and Bannon are on the same team. Both men believe fully in the “America First” agenda, which includes building a border wall, protecting the nation from terrorism and allowing U.S. companies to flourish.

While Bannon was in the White House, he was, arguably, Trump’s strongest tie to his own base. And the Breitbart executive was there to support Trump during his darkest days. After the release of the embarrassing 2005 “Access Hollywood” audio tape, Bannon supported then-candidate Trump, encouraging him to stay in the race because he had a “100% chance” of winning; meanwhile, then-Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus told Trump that if he didn’t drop out, he’d face the worst electoral defeat in U.S. history.

Bottom line: Moving forward, Trump should use his bold energy to work hard for all American voters and enact his campaign promises. Launching personal attacks against fellow conservatives only gives the media an excuse to take the spotlight away from Trump’s many accomplishments.

So far, Trump’s presidency has been a success in many ways, even in the face of a Democratic Party and a mainstream media that will do anything to destroy him.

Why give the haters more reason to ignore his achievements?

Kristin Tate is author of the upcoming book “How Do I Tax Thee?“ and an analyst for Capitalism.com. Follow her on Twitter @KristinBTate.