In 2016, the media made Donald Trump — a fringe candidate who was a great sideshow act — the main event in the Republican primary. They focused all of their attention on him because, in their minds, it made the Democrats look sane and reasonable. And not only did Trump win the nomination for the Republican Party, he won the presidency itself, much to their shock and horror. And, despite all of this, they refuse to acknowledge that they had any hand in it. The equivalent of millions of dollars in free advertising they gave him in coverage gave him all the exposure to the Republican base he needed, and he succeeded in winning the party’s nomination. They deflected by leaning heavily on the Russia conspiracy, that a foreign government had a hand in electing him, completely ignoring that the media coverage of him was their fault. In a world without Trump constantly in front of cameras or on social media, they have focused all of their attacks on DeSantis, because he is the one who is capturing the attention and the imagination of a lot of the same people who were captivated by Trump… a captivation only made possible by the media’s constant coverage on (and attacks against) him.