The world has moved on, Trump’s Lunch with the Queen should be a wake up call for the media

Exclusive Commentary by Global Editor in Chief of Human Events Raheem Kassam "As Donald Trump sits down to have lunch with the Queen, perhaps the media will finally understand that the twin political revolutions of MAGA and Brexit have fundamentally transformed both America and Britain."

President Trump and Queen of England

As President Trump participates in his state visit to the United Kingdom, he’s visiting a country that’s even more closely aligned with his political philosophy than it was during his first official visit last year.

In the days before he departed, the President made a point of giving a shoutout to his counterparts in British politics, Brexit leader Nigel Farage. Unfortunately, he did the same to Boris Johnson, who is actually nothing like the President and has insulted him previously.

Farage and the Brexit Party just won a shocking victory in Britain’s elections for representatives to the European Parliament, even though the Party was founded just six weeks before Election Day. The Brexit Party’s performance proved that the 2016 referendum was no fluke, and that the nationalist-populist spirit that swept Donald Trump into office is alive and well in the U.K.

A new analysis shows that if the results of the latest elections were translated into a general election in the U.K., Farage — a man who was “Trumpian” before Donald Trump ever announced his run for president — would become the prime minister.

In the meantime, Johnson is a front-runner to replace May after she leaves office.

The takeaway is that Donald Trump’s election in the United States wasn’t an aberration, but rather part of a growing movement that’s been growing roots in Britain, as well. President Trump’s brand of unapologetic nationalist populism is now thoroughly mainstream in both countries.

This trip, unlike President Trump’s first visit to the U.K., is not entirely political. This is an official state visit, complete with a luncheon with Queen Elizabeth II.

There’s nothing exceptional about that — Presidents have made a tradition of meeting with British monarchs ever since Woodrow Wilson met George V a century ago. Queen Elizabeth herself has met every American president since Harry Truman. The American media, however, intent on keeping alive their narrative of President Trump being a mercurial outcast from polite world affairs, would prefer that she snub him to give them another excuse to attack the President.

The first time around, much of the American press coverage was focused on how much supposed opposition Trump faced. They wrote up every silly statement from Britain’s own version of Bill de Blasio, London Mayor Sadiq Khan, such as saying the President of the United States was “not welcome.”

Once again, Khan pulled the welcome mat with Twitter attacks against President Trump before the trip. Donald Trump had the final word, tweeting that Khan “has done a terrible job as Mayor of London,” and is just like New York City Mayor Bill De Blasio, except that Khan is “half his height.”

Last year, the media were unscrupulously trying to create the impression that Donald Trump’s very presence on British soil was somehow a threat to our “special relationship.”

It didn’t work then, but they’re giving it another try. Luckily, we now have an even clearer picture of how absurd the whole notion is. Just like last time, most Britons are supportive of the President’s visit. The American media has simply been amplifying the whines of a vocal minority that reflect the media’s own hysterical anti-Trump bias.

Even the tropes are the same. The “giant” balloon of an infantilized Trump will be back on display, and it will once again be built up in the press to make it seem as though it’s a huge blimp “soaring” over the London skyline. This time, though, we’re all aware that it’s actually just an embarrassing, oversized party favor floating listlessly over the heads of a small number of even sadder-looking activists.

By now, the leftist fantasy that the Trump presidency is “not normal” has completely evaporated — liberals just haven’t noticed.

As Donald Trump sits down to have lunch with the Queen, perhaps the media will finally understand that the twin political revolutions of MAGA and Brexit have fundamentally transformed both America and Britain.

Raheem Kassam is the Global Editor in Chief of Human Events.

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Raheem Kassam