Thinking on it, I think this latest stunt proves just how much the media's influence has diminished in the last five years.
Think about it. Last week they were all but declaring Trump dead. They were being pretty fucking firm on the idea that Trump could go at any time, his organs were failing, his lungs were filling with his own blood, etc., etc., and what happened?
The nation yawned.
Before Trump, if they'd been reporting on a President like that, it would have caused mass panic. The stock market would have crashed, there'd have been early-coof like response to making runs on the stores, people would have been staring at their TVs with wide eyes waiting for every update. And it's clear that every arm of the media thought that's what was going to happen this time too. They were putting up trackers for where to follow their 24/7 coverage of Trump's possible status, they had their special graphics ready to go, they had their solemn voices practiced. And the nation, if not the world, looked at all of that, shrugged, and said "Meh." Even his most deranged detractors basically made some celebratory tweets drooling over the potential of his death... and went on about their lives. You don't just go on about your life if you sincerely think the leader of the free world is bracing himself on death's doorstep, no matter how much you hate the guy.
The media has lost so much credibility that they can't even deliberately start a panic over something so severe. Even their most well-programmed NPC followers know on some level, in the back of what passes for their minds, that they're being lied to. And they'll play along to a certain extent to keep up the kayfabe, but they're not going to actually believe it.
Trump catching the coof has proved that the mainstream media's influence is effectively dead, the brain just hasn't realized that the heart's stopped beating.
