The press wasn't a "complicit" player here. The press is part of the Democrat machine.
There's a reason why every totalitarian regime in the history of mankind has had an effective propaganda arm. We just like to delude ourselves into thinking the press is something that operates separately from our government.
Re: “The press wasn’t a “complicit” player here. The press is part of the Democrat machine.”
I take the opposite view.
The Press is not the propaganda wing of the Democrat Party.
The Democrat Party is the political wing of the Press.