America's parallel universes

How Donald Trump's feelings triumphed over the media's facts

Trump and Trumpland.
(Image credit: Getty Images)

Newt Gingrich observed recently that American politics are now divided into "parallel universes," with each side fiercely competing for the right to make their reality true. In one universe, facts are relevant. In the other, feelings trump all.

The presidential election was a referendum on this theory of American politics. It turns out Newt was right. America just elected as her leader a man who wondered aloud whether, as president, he could start a super PAC to punish his enemies. A man caught on tape saying he could grab women by the genitals if he felt like it, who also said (on tape and on purpose) that he could shoot someone and his supporters would remain loyal. A man whose lies were constant, extensive, falsifiable, well-documented, competently reported on, and cleanly debunked — and who nevertheless managed to convince the electorate to regard his opponent as "the liar," just as he convinced many, some years ago, to regard President Obama as a Kenyan Muslim.

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE
https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/flexiimages/jacafc5zvs1692883516.jpg

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up
To continue reading this article...
Continue reading this article and get limited website access each month.
Get unlimited website access, exclusive newsletters plus much more.
Cancel or pause at any time.
Already a subscriber to The Week?
Not sure which email you used for your subscription? Contact us
Lili Loofbourow

Lili Loofbourow is the culture critic at TheWeek.com. She's also a special correspondent for the Los Angeles Review of Books and an editor for Beyond Criticism, a Bloomsbury Academic series dedicated to formally experimental criticism. Her writing has appeared in a variety of venues including The Guardian, Salon, The New York Times Magazine, The New Republic, and Slate.