Two things for me.
First, I hated this constant desire by CNN and other news outlets to "understand" Trump voters, by going to these diners in podunk towns in the rust belt and asking them why they liked the guy. They all had the same answers that made no sense. It got really old and repetitive after about 2 months. Trump literally could have done nothing but 4 years but make armpit fart noises, and these journalists would have written about "Why Armpit Fart Noises Are Working for Rural America".
The second thing is how shell-shocked liberals were about 2016, and to an extent I understand that. But even as it was incredibly obvious that Trump was in a worse position in 2020 than 2016, so many of them acted like he was a brilliant political strategist or unbeatable God, who the polls were always going to underestimate (silent Trump voters), or even if he didn't win, he wouldn't leave office. Really got into deifying the guy territory and it was stupid.
Very much agreed with both, especially the first one. Speaking of which, has there been any articles so far about interviewing Trump voters in Miami or the Rio Grand Valley? At least that'd be different than another interview at an all-white diner in Ohio after Sunday church.
Other things, largely related to the news media (Who really look bad coming out of this IMO). Just off the top of my head:
1. How many families were torn apart. Thanks to him, my Mom disowns her entire family. Just because Biden will be President doesn't mean bygones are bygones.
2. The accelerated rise in echo chambers & tribalism (On both sides). The internet certainly didn't help with this.
3. Related to above, this 'life & death' mass hysteria in politics now. It shouldn't be an existential crisis if a Democrat wins the Presidency or a Republican gets to replace a left-wing SC Justice.
4. This is more CNN-centric, but news outlets trying to satisfy both sides by having GOP crazies come on and defend Trump's conspiracies.
5. News outlets discussing politics as if they're sports/wrestling analysts. Things like "Trump's speech just got himself over with his base" or "Democrats fumbled the ball with their response". It really drove home the nihilism of the last few years.
6. News outlets being even more skittish about projecting/reporting election results. Nevada & Pennsylvania should've been called a day earlier and it was painful seeing them dance around Warnock's victory speech for 10-20 minutes before calling his contest.
7. News outlets not pushing back hard enough until the last few months. I I get that he brings ratings & readership, but it really annoyed me when it came to the NY Times criticizing him while also normalizing him whenever possible for access.
- This is more of a nitpick about political podcasts over listened to, but there's been some who discuss Trump's actions/speeches in an almost jovial/non-serious way. I get that it can be hard to avoid the absurdity or dark humor of it, but it just irks me.
Granted a lot of these were bubbling over the last couple decades, but they've really blossomed over the last 5 years.
