All The News That Media Ignored While Obsessing Over Trump's Taco Bowl

While media have been obsessing over Donald Trump's culturally incompetent tweet in which he expressed his love for Hispanics while eating a taco bowl on Cinco de Mayo, over the past 24 hours numerous other campaign blunders with long-term consequences were sidelined.

A Google News search for "‘Donald Trump’+‘taco bowl’" returns about 379,000 results, and a search via TV monitoring software iQ media reflects a massive spike in TV coverage of the “taco bowl” tweet.

Meanwhile, other consequential events relevant to Trump's campaign have received remarkably less attention. Mitt Romney said he won't back the presumptive Republican nominee, Trump “disavowed” former Ku Klux Klan leader David Duke's most recent display of anti-Semitic enthusiasm for his campaign after previously refusing to do so, bizarrely walked back his “only detailed economic proposal,” saying his tax plan wasn't to be taken literally, and responded to a discrepancy with his adviser Ben Carson over whether the campaign's vice presidential choice would be a Republican. A U.S. District judge is also expected to address the timing of the trial for the class-action lawsuit that Trump is facing over the now-defunct Trump University.

While media is right to point out the insensitive nature of Trump’s pandering tweet – reactions among Hispanic media were especially mocking -- by devoting disproportionate coverage, they have effectively allowed Trump to set the agenda from his Twitter account, subsequently diverting attention from other troubling, more consequential aspects of his campaign. As Mother Jones’ Kevin Drum noted, the tweet was bait, meant to induce mockery and appeal specifically to his base, and the media took it.

UPDATE: During a press conference following President Obama's statement about the economy on May 6, a reporter asked the president whether he'd seen Trump's taco bowl tweet and whether he had any thoughts on it. Reporters failed to ask any questions about Obama's remarks.

REPORTER: Mr. President, what is your message to Democratic voters who have yet to cast their vote who may be hesitant to vote for the Democratic front-runner because of the ongoing email scandal and investigation, and also did you see Donald Trump's taco bowl tweet and your thoughts on it?  

PRESIDENT OBAMA: I have no thoughts on Mr. Trump's tweets. As a general rule I don't pay attention to Mr. Trump's tweets. And I think that will be true for the next six months, so you can just file that one.