BEIJING - U.S. President Barack Obama on Friday seemed to be indicating that too much media coverage of billionaire Donald Trump has helped him secure Republican presidential nomination.
However, it is largely not the media but public anger over bad U.S. politics that has helped Trump the most. The roaring rise of a bombastic Donald Trump does not merely depend on his tactical campaign, but is attributable to his capitalizing on negative public sentiment.
Obama tried to remind reporters and the American public on Friday that the U.S. presidential election is a serious business. "This is not entertainment. This is not a reality show. This is a contest for the presidency of the United States," said the president.
In recent years, ordinary people in the United States have manifested a strong dislike for Washington insiders, disappointment over Congress political stalemate, distaste of big-money politics and fear of terrorism, economic recession and unemployment.
Trump, who strode to success in a couple of months, knows well the amount of frustration among the white working class population, especially those in rural areas far from urban centers, and took advantage of such sentiment to forge an image of Washington outsider.
In March, he responded to criticism over a punching incident that happened at his campaign rally, saying "I am just a messenger." "The people are angry about the fact that for 12 years, the workers in this country haven't had a pay increase," he said.(Xinhua)