Like it or not, there are a lot of people who still get most of their news from the mainstream media outlets like CNN, NYT, NBC, CBS, WSJ, ABC, etc., and they trust those outlets. So all the bashing they did on Trump including the Billy Bush tape, the so-called victims of groping, the Mexican judge thing, the McCain "not a hero" stuff - all of this did have an effect and it discourage a lot of would-be Trump supporters.
The upside of this is that Trump won the presidency anyway and so he is in prime position to win all those people over through his actions as president. They will get to know him better and they will realize that he is far from the monster the MSM made him out to be. They will be pleasantly surprised and if Trump does as well as I expect him to, he'll be setting himself up for a massive landslide re-election in 2020.
This is what the MSM and Democrats fear most and why they were trying to prevent his presidency in the first place. If Trump can perform well and earn minority support, he will change the political landscape and the Democrats will continue to see declining results in future elections as their base deserts them.
In my opinion, Donald Trump would not have been able to win if he ran in previous elections. The mainstream media would have been successful in destroying him completely. Social media and alternative ways to get out his message unfiltered saved him.
Good point. In addtion to the MSM assault, add in the establishment. The establishment includes establishment Democrats and Republicans but also includes establishment conservatives. For example, Mark Levin was no longer a Never Trumper on November 1, but one week before the elction, the Never Trump damage was already done...
Mark Levin no longer a NeverTrumper!
Re: MarkLevin ^ | November 1, 2016 | Jim Robinson
Posted on 11/1/2016, 7:57:48 PM by Jim Robinson
Have been listening to Mark Levin for the last hour or so. Am happy to report that our old friend Mark appears to no longer be a NeverTrumper. It appears that he now believes Trump is a lot more of a constitutional conservative than McCain or Romney (well, duh).