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I have a big issue with the politics of this piece. The whole “leader of the free world” applying to Merkel is media frustration with Trump. However, it’s not
by MR4D 7y ago
I have a big issue with the politics of this piece. The whole “leader of the free world” applying to Merkel is media frustration with Trump.
However, it’s not the media (or my) job to apply this label. Rather, it’s earned by the person who most shapes the free world.
By definition, that is not Xi or Putin.
Merkel’s influence compared to any American president is significantly less.
A US President has mush more influence over things like trade, war, and finance than any German leader since 1945.
I say this objectively, regardless of whether I like or hate the person in either office.
Merkel may have nailed the speech, but that is almost tangential to the distorted headline.
- root_axis 7y agoI noticed this transition in the media around the time of the summit in Helsiinki. At the time, Trump publicly deferred to Putin and contradicted U.S. intelligence, this event strengthened the narrative that Trump is in some ways subservient or at least sympathetic to Putin's geopolitical agenda, thus violating the definition you emphasized in your comment. "Leader of the free world" is a statement of propaganda no matter who is uttering it about whom, but I think it's fair to argue that Trump's behavior contributed to this result.