Why is US mainstream media being accused of ‘sanewashing’ Donald Trump's speeches?

Is the US mainstream media ‘sanewashing’ Donald Trump?

That’s what some are accusing outlets such as The New York Times, CNN  and Wall Street Journal – known as legacy media outlets – of doing while reporting on the former president.

But what does it mean? Why is the media being accused of doing so?

Let’s take a closer look:

What is it?

‘Sanewashing’ is a term coined b_y The New Republic’s_ Parker Molloy.

It refers to the practice of the media taking Trump’s rambling and often nonsensical speeches – and trying to present them to the public in a way that makes sense.

The term recently began trending after Trump, during an address at the Economic Club of New York, gave an answer that some described as gibberish.

Asked about what specific childcare policy he would advance if elected president, Trump responded, “Well, I would do that, and we’re sitting down, and I was, somebody, we had Senator Marco Rubio, and my daughter Ivanka was so, uh, impactful on that issue. It’s a very important issue. But I think when you talk about the kind of numbers that I’m talking about, that, because, look, child care is child care is. Couldn’t, you know, there’s something, you have to have it – in this country you have to have it.

“But when you talk about those numbers compared to the kind of numbers that I’m talking about by taxing foreign nations at levels that they’re not used to — but they’ll get used to it very quickly – and it’s not gonna stop them from doing business with us, but they’ll have a very substantial tax when they send product into our country. Uh, those numbers are so much bigger than any numbers that we’re talking about, including child care, that it’s going to take care.”

“We’re gonna have - I, I look forward to having no deficits within a fairly short period of time, coupled with, uh, the reductions that I told you about on waste and fraud and all of the other things that are going on in our country, because I have to stay with child care. I want to stay with child care, but those numbers are small relative to the kind of economic numbers that I’m talking about, including growth, but growth also headed up by what the plan is that I just, uh, that I just told you about.”

“We’re gonna be taking in trillions of dollars, and as much as child care, uh, is talked about as being expensive, it’s, relatively speaking, not very expensive compared to the kind of numbers we’ll be taking in. We’re going to make this into an incredible country that can afford to take care of its people, and then we’ll worry about the rest of the world. Let’s help other people, but we’re going to take care of our country first. This is about America first. It’s about Make America Great Again, we have to do it because right now we’re a failing nation, so we’ll take care of it. Thank you. Very good question. Thank you."

As per The Times of  India, the Wall Street Journal attempted to try to ‘sanewash’ Trump’s prattle.

It speculated that Trump was somehow trying to explain how revenue from tariffs would somehow pay for childcare costs – which itself doesn’t make sense.

A piece in Salon contended that Trump’s speech should have been called a trainwreck.

“But the media covered for him as they so often do. He has the whole press corps acting as his ghostwriter, sanitising his babble for the public,” the piece argued.

It noted how the double standards don’t seem to apply to Joe Biden and Kamala Harris.

“They have to campaign and govern in a world where they are held to the standard that requires a president to be able to demonstrate his or her fitness for the presidency,” the piece stated.

The piece in The New Republic by Molloy argued that ‘sanewashing’ isn’t just bad journalism – it’s downright misinformation that endangers democracy.

“By continually reframing Trump’s incoherent and often dangerous rhetoric as conventional political discourse, major news outlets are failing in their duty to inform the public and are instead providing cover for increasingly erratic behavior from a former—and potentially future—president,” Molloy claimed.

Molloy argued that the media, by presenting Trump’s words this way, is contributing to America’s shared reality breaking down.

“Voters who rely solely on traditional news sources are presented with a version of Trump that bears little resemblance to reality. They see a former president who, while controversial, appears to operate within the bounds of normal political discourse—or at worst, is breaking with it in some kind of refreshing manner,” Molloy argued.

Molloy isn’t alone.

A panel on MSNBC on Sunday including reporter Molly Jong Fast and Tara Setmayer, a senior advisor for anti-Trump organisation The Lincoln Project called out the mainstream media for ‘sanewashing’ Trump’s remarks.

Economist Paul Krugman also noted on Instagram how none of the media outlets, barring Bloomberg, had picked up on Trump’s threat to impose 100 per cent tariffs on countries not using the dollar.

Trump’s rambling speeches

Rambling on has become something of a habit for Trump.

In recent speeches, Trump has repeatedly been making references to the ‘late great’ Hannibal Lector.

“They hate when I use Dr Hannibal Lecter. The late, great Hannibal Lecter,” Trump said in August as per Washington Post.

“Has anyone seen ‘The Silence of the Lambs’? The late, great Hannibal Lecter. He’d love to have you for dinner. That’s insane asylums. They’re emptying out their insane asylums,” Trump said during his acceptance speech at the Republican National Convention.

“The late, great Hannibal Lecter. He’s a wonderful man. … Remember the last scene?” Trump said in a May speech. “We have people that are being released into our country that we don’t want in our country.”

Trump also has been telling a story about a sinking electric boat and a shark – about whether it would be better to stay aboard and be electrocuted or jump off and be eaten by the fish.

“You know what I’m going to take? Electrocution,” Trump said at a rally in October. “I will take electrocution every single time.”

The Atlantic’s Jeffrey Goldberg in a piece gave examples of how the media reported Trump’s remarks on sharks.

“It works like this: Trump sounds nuts, but he can’t be nuts, because he’s the presumptive nominee for president of a major party, and no major party would nominate someone who is nuts. Therefore, it is our responsibility to sand down his rhetoric, to identify any kernel of meaning, to make light of his bizarro statements, to rationalise. Which is why, after the electric-shark speech, much of the coverage revolved around the high temperatures in Las Vegas, and other extraneities,” Golberg wrote.

Golberg noted the headlines from different media outlets – the Associated Press went with “Trump Complains About His Teleprompters at a Scorching Las Vegas Rally”, while The New York Times gave the headline, “In Las Vegas, Trump Appeals to Local Workers and Avoids Talk of Conviction.”

CNN he noted, went with, “Trump Proposes Eliminating Taxes on Tips at Las Vegas Campaign Rally.”

All of which bears little resemblance to reality.

Independent journalist Aaron Rupar called out CNN for sanewashing Trump’s speech in which he talked about Lecter.

“CNN correspondent sanewashes Trump’s diatribe in Wisconsin by pretending he rolled out a serious new policy proposal about changing the 25th amendment,” Rupar wrote on X.

The piece in The New Republic noted how The New York Times continues to ‘sanewash’ Trump – who has made claims to be an oratorical genius.

“Certainly, in the history of narrative, there have been writers celebrated for their ability to be discursive only to cleverly tie together all their themes with a neat bow at the end—William Shakespeare, Charles Dickens and Larry David come to mind,” the piece in The New York Times noted.

“In a world of canned political speeches, Mr Trump’s style is beloved by his supporters, who enjoy these frequent glimpses into his id,” the piece added.

Molloy in his article wrote that such framing goes beyond simply sanitising Trump’s remarks – it takes it into territory that can be only regarded as absurd.

“By framing Trump’s incoherent ramblings as some form of avant-garde oratory, the Times isn’t just failing to accurately report—it’s actively warping reality to its readers. The consequences of this extend beyond misleading headlines or sanitized quotes. It’s creating a dangerous disconnect between reality and reported news, fostering an environment where extreme rhetoric becomes normalized and conspiracy theories gain unwarranted legitimacy,” Molloy warned.

With inputs from agencies