2016 United States presidential election

=== Media coverage ===
{{Main|Media coverage of the 2016 United States presidential election}}
Clinton had an uneasy—and, at times, adversarial—relationship with the press throughout her life in public service.<ref>{{cite news |first1=Glenn |last1=Thrush |first2=Maggie |last2=Haberman |title=What Is Hillary Clinton Afraid Of |url=https://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2014/05/hillary-clinton-media-105901.html |publisher=[[Politico]]o |date=May 2014 |access-date=March 8, 2021 |archive-date=August 19, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150819060421/http://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2014/05/hillary-clinton-media-105901.html |url-status=dead }}</ref> Weeks before her official entry as a presidential candidate, Clinton attended a political press corps event, pledging to start fresh on what she described as a "complicated" relationship with political reporters.<ref>{{cite news |first=Dan |last=Merica |title=Hillary Clinton seeks 'new beginning' with the press |url=http://www.cnn.com/2015/03/23/politics/hillary-clinton-2016-election-press/ |publisher=[[CNN]] |date=March 24, 2015}}</ref> Clinton was initially criticized by the press for avoiding taking their questions,<ref name="NYT52215">{{cite news |first=Jason |last=Horowitz |title=Hillary Clinton, Acutely Aware of Pitfalls, Avoids Press on Campaign Trail |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2015/05/23/us/politics/hillary-clinton-acutely-aware-of-pitfalls-avoids-press-on-campaign-trail.html |work=[[The New York Times]] |date=May 22, 2015 |quote=it makes all the political sense in the world for Mrs. Clinton to ignore them}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |first=Paul |last=Waldman |title=Why Hillary Clinton needs to start treating the press better |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/plum-line/wp/2015/06/02/why-hillary-clinton-needs-to-start-treating-the-press-better/ |newspaper=[[The Washington Post]] |date=June 2, 2015}}</ref> after which she provided more interviews.

In contrast, Trump benefited from free media more than any other candidate. From the beginning of his campaign through February 2016, Trump received almost $2 billion in free media attention, twice the amount that Clinton received.<ref name="FreeMediaAdvantage">Nicholas Confessore & Karen Yourish, [https://www.nytimes.com/2016/03/16/upshot/measuring-donald-trumps-mammoth-advantage-in-free-media.html Measuring Donald Trump's Mammoth Advantage in Free Media], ''[[The New York Times]]'' (March 16, 2016).</ref> According to data from the ''[[Tyndall Report]]'', which tracks nightly news content, through February 2016, Trump alone accounted for more than a quarter of all 2016 election coverage on the evening newscasts of [[NBC Nightly News|NBC]], [[CBS Evening News|CBS]] and [[ABC World News|ABC]], more than all the Democratic campaigns combined.<ref>{{cite web |title=How much does Donald Trump dominate TV news coverage? This much |date=December 6, 2015 |url=https://money.cnn.com/2015/12/06/media/donald-trump-nightly-news-coverage/ |publisher=[[CNN]] |access-date=February 17, 2016}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last1=Tyndall |first1=Andrew |title=COMMENTS: Campaign 2016 Coverage: Annual Totals for 2015 |url=http://tyndallreport.com/comment/20/5773/ |access-date=February 17, 2016}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last1=Byers |first1=Dylan |title=Donald Trump: Media King, 2015 |url=http://www.cnn.com/2015/12/28/politics/trump-media-king/ |publisher=[[CNN]] |access-date=February 17, 2016}}</ref> Observers noted Trump's ability to garner constant mainstream media coverage "almost at will."<ref>{{cite magazine |last1=Walsh |first1=Kenneth |title=How Donald Trump's Media Dominance Is Changing the 2016 Campaign |url=https://www.usnews.com/news/the-report/articles/2015/12/31/how-donald-trumps-media-dominance-is-changing-the-2016-campaign |magazine=U.S. News & World Report |access-date=February 17, 2016 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160225000859/http://www.usnews.com/news/the-report/articles/2015/12/31/how-donald-trumps-media-dominance-is-changing-the-2016-campaign |archive-date=February 25, 2016 }}</ref> However, Trump frequently criticized the media for writing what he alleged to be false stories about him<ref>{{cite web |title=43 Times Donald Trump Has Attacked The Media As A Presidential Candidate |url=https://huffingtonpost.com/entry/donald-trump-has-attacked-the-media-many-many-times_us_56059e0de4b0af3706dc3cce |work=[[HuffPost]] |date=September 28, 2015 |access-date=February 17, 2016}}</ref> and he has called upon his supporters to be "the [[silent majority]]."<ref name=":4">{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2015/07/12/us/politics/donald-trump-defiantly-rallies-a-new-silent-majority-in-a-visit-to-arizona.html |title=Donald Trump Defiantly Rallies a New 'Silent Majority' in a Visit to Arizona |newspaper=[[The New York Times]] |access-date=July 17, 2015 |first=Nicholas |last=Fandos |date=July 11, 2015}}</ref> Trump also said the media "put false meaning into the words I say", and says he does not mind being criticized by the media as long as they are honest about it.<ref>Walsh, Kenneth. [https://www.usnews.com/news/articles/2016-08-15/trump-media-is-dishonest-and-corrupt "Trump: Media Is 'Dishonest and Corrupt'"] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160916083614/http://www.usnews.com/news/articles/2016-08-15/trump-media-is-dishonest-and-corrupt |date=September 16, 2016}}, ''[[U.S. News & World Report]]'' (August 15, 2016).</ref><ref>Koppel, Ted. [https://www.cbsnews.com/news/trump-i-feel-im-an-honest-person/ "Trump: 'I feel I'm an honest person'"], ''[[CBS News]]'' (July 24, 2016).</ref>