I covered the 2016 general presidential election for USC Annenberg Media, attending both the Republican and Democratic National Conventions:
When Donald Trump referred to Mexican immigrants as “rapists” and “murderers” when he announced his black swan bid for the presidency, the media lunged for the usual words: racist, bigot, white supremacist. Then when he committed explicit and egregious instances of actual race-baiting and discrimination, conservatives began to employ the same language. But the mainstream media and the left? Well, they were out of words. They had just run off the euphemism treadmill. And they were going absolutely apoplectic.
OPINION: How We, the #NeverTrumpers, Lost – November 28, 2016
Even though Trump had been quietly tolerated as an ineffectual sideshow by the mainstream left during the primaries — Vox published “Why I’m more worried about Marco Rubio than Donald Trump” less than 10 months ago — they found themselves exhausted of the language to condemn Trump’s increasingly egregious stunts.
Many Delegates Still Feel the Bern at the Democratic National Convention – July 29, 2016
Sanders supporters were evident all week during the convention in Philadelphia that was supposed to help unite the party after a long primary season. On Monday, they disturbed speeches at the California delegation breakfast, shouting “count our votes.” During Clinton’s speech Thursday night, they wore glowing yellow shirts in protest and held signs, including a big banner reading “#Wikileaks,” a reference to the email leaks that showed Democratic party officials favoring Clinton.
“You don’t have to worry about me,” said Schnitzer on party loyalty. “You have to worry about the millions of 20- and 30-year-olds, people who have never been involved in the process before who are now turned off to the DNC completely and are going, ‘Wow, that’s the party that fixed the election.’ I’ve been [a] ‘no party preference’ [voter] my entire life. Bernie Sanders inspired me so much that I joined this movement. I’ll tell you now: I wasn’t in the Democratic Party before this, and this isn’t inspiring me to be a member of the Democratic Party after.”
From the Ground Up: The Grassroots Movement Against Political Correctness – July 21, 2016
This rejection of identity politics echoes throughout the Yiannopoulos fan base. Yiannopoulos, as a conservative gay man, has proudly professed himself the leader of a movement rejecting liberals’ hold over the LGBT community.
“I’m not the only person to recognize that after a few decades of good work, these people have thrown us under the bus,” Yiannopoulos said about the so-called liberal media during a speech at the Gays for Trump party. “I’m not the only person to recognize that Donald Trump is the most pro-gay candidate in American electoral history.”
Tiana Lowe 