It was an intentional distraction from the real story, which was the vast theft of trillions of dollars through bullshit tax cuts and pointed neglect for the key things that keep society functioning, like boring stuff--infrastructure, education, generational investments, rule of law, international politics, energy policy, environmental issues, etc. Nope, the rage grabbed eyeballs. Eyeballs meant ads. Ads meant dollars. Dollars meant kaching for the media powers. And the stock market! So much shareholder value!