Howard seems to get Trump.
In this statement he encapsulates exactly why the left hates him. He engages them and doesn't run from their attacks. He takes them on, doesn't cower from the fight, and while making himself the most available, spontaneous, genuine, and unrehearsed political candidate they've likely ever encountered, he dismantles their points, and treats them as people without credibility. He reduces their stature, and has changed the game forever.
Unlike so many before him, he does not and will not play perpetual defense with them, running scared when they think they've scored points. He hits back, destroys their points, and when they think they have a good ‘gotcha’, he doubles down and counterpunches with strength. They are the ones who are on the run, and they are the ones who often come away on the losing end - having lost credibility. Every time they attack and the tables are turned on them, they look worse - and it showcases them as the ones with an agenda.
Others will learn from this, and the illusion that you can't fight back has been exposed. He's shifted the paradigm.
the other candidates don’t engage the media because they’re afraid. Trump is not afraid
His adversaries in the media are propagandists, not journalists.