It may seem like a crass question, but were the bodies of the 50 souls recently cut down by bullets at two mosques in Christchurch, New Zealand, even cold before the media starting working to blame President Trump for the horrific slaughter? Shameless members of the press used the March 15th bloodbath – never let a serious crisis go to waste!  – as a springboard to once again cast aspersions on Trump as a racist. But the media took it a step further this time in hinting or outright saying Trump inspired last week’s mass killing. The mental gymnastics required to make such an absurd claim are breathtaking.

Almost as soon as the tragic events in New Zealand became public, the press here and abroad used the alleged killer’s 74-page manifesto, “The Great Replacement,” to demonstrate Trump Derangement Syndrome is a real condition that afflicts many reporters, editors and other information gatekeepers.  See here, here and here.

Naturally, the media focused on this portion of the manifesto: “Were/are you a supporter of Donald Trump? As a symbol of renewed white identity and common purpose? Sure.”

Not as much attention was paid to what directly followed: “As a policy maker and leader? Dear god no…”

Likewise, the media wasn’t so quick to spotlight other aspects of the all-over-the-map manifesto that didn’t present the shooter as a die-hard Trump-supporting conservative and Bible-thumping Christian:

• “Were/are you a conservative? No, conservatism is corporatism in disguise. I want no part of it.”
  
  
• “Conservatism is dead. Thank God.”
  
  
• “Were/are you a Christian? That is complicated. When I know I will tell you…”
  
  
• “Were/are you ‘right wing’? Depending on the definition, sure.”
  
  
• “Were/are you ‘left wing’? Depending on the definition, sure.”
  
  
• “Were/are you socialist? Depending on the definition. Worker ownership of the means of productions? It depends on who those workers are, their intents, who currently owns the means of production, their intents, and who currently owns the state, and its intents.”
  
  
• He called himself an “eco-fascist” three times and claimed “the nation with the closest political and social values” to his own is China.

The conspicuous cherry picking of the manifesto’s content by certain members of the media to present the alleged killer as a Trump sympathizer and by extension blame President Trump for the murder of 50 people may not even be the worst part. The deranged author of the manifesto in no uncertain terms stated his aim to sow division in America via the controversial issue of guns and gun control to such an extent that it results in violent conflict. The myopic media – too focused on demonizing Trump 24 hours a day – can’t see they are being played.