One year later: A look at the headlines at the start of Donald Trump's campaign

Has it really been a year?

It feels like yesterday that Donald Trump slowly floated down from on high (via escalator, technically) to begin the campaign that would prove just about everyone wrong.

That day, June 16, 2015, started it all.

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Trump would launch his campaign with a relatively non-traditional "Mexicans are rapists and murders" platform that included the now-famous call to build a wall the southern neighbor of the U.S.

The announcement launched a deluge of media that now looks like a trickle in comparison to the waterfall of coverage that Trump has received. Some of it reeked of denial, lots of it took a chance to poke fun at trump -- but almost none of it took him seriously.

Now, The Donald is the presumptive Republican nominee, giving him at the very least a fighting chance at the presidency.

Today, one year later, let's take a quick look back at the headlines of that day.

Mainstream

The mainstream outlets covered the news relatively straight, albeit with some early jabs at what was then considered a joke candidacy.

The New York Times went with: "Donald Trump, Pushing Someone Rich, Offers Himself"

FiveThirtyEight was famously dismissive of Trump's chances, publishing: "Why Donald Trump Isn’t A Real Candidate, In One Chart"

The Washington Post, which recently had its press credentials revoked by the Trump campaign, ran: "Donald Trump begins 2016 bid, citing his outsider status"

The always staid BBC declared: "Donald Trump to run for president in 2016"

The left

The Huffington Post, which would later try to characterize Trump stories as entertainment before relenting, went with: "Donald Trump is Actually Running for President. God Help Us All"

MSNBC went with the listicle route with "the 6 most provocative parts of Donald Trump's 2016 announcement" -- an article that's actually worth revisiting as many of those pieces have become major parts of Trump's campaign.

TheDaily Beast also went a little tongue in cheek: "Trump to U.S.: 'I Am Rich,' Hire me"

ThinkProgress focused more on the substance: "Watch Donald Trump Go Full Nativist In Presidential Campaign Launch"

The right

Conservative-leaning outlets had perhaps the widest range of reactions to Trump's announcement.

Breitbart, the media outlet perhaps most friendly to Trump, fit his message into their headline: "Donald Trump Wants to Make America Great Again, Announces 2016 Campaign"

Breitbart also had some of the most extensive Trump coverage of the day, publishing many posts including an op-ed that called Trump "A Leader Who Paints in the Bold Colors of Red, White and Blue."

National Review, another right-leaning media outlet, was not as excited. The magazine, which would later publish a magazine with the cover of "Conservative Against Trump," had one of the more aggressive headlines with "Witless Ape Rides Escalator." 

Fox News published a variety of pieces including a first-person take, "Donald Trump for President? The 2016 race just got fun," and coverage of his comments about building a wall on the border with Mexico and his distaste for the other Republican candidates.

The digital

Internet-native publications are sometimes wrongly labeled as overly snarky. 

On the Trump announcement, they earned the label.

Wonkette just totally went for it with "Donald Trump Farts Out Yoogest, Classiest Presidential Campaign Announcement, From His Butt"

Mic also didn't hold much back: "The Race for the Republican Nomination Just Officially Became a Clown Show"

Vox went with a bit of detached realism: "Donald Trump 2016 is an actual thing that's happening"

Vice's Noisey gave Trump his first endorsement: "The Noisey Editorial Board is Proud to Endorse Donald Trump for President"

BusinessInsider had perhaps the most straightforward take: "Donald Trump is running for president"

And we here at Mashable jumped in with: "Look out 'haters and losers,' Trump wants to be president"

The, uh, non-traditional

Trump's blurring of the lines between business, entertainment and politics helped push media of all sorts into covering his campaign. 

E! weighed in with a headline that would make the BBC proud: "Donald Trump Announces Presidential Bid for 2016"

TMZ employed its usual brashness: "Donald Trump -- Running for President!"

Deadline, better known for its coverage of Hollywood, came in with (and I'm not kidding here): "Donald Trump Announces White House Bid: What Does This Mean For 'Celebrity Apprentice', Miss Universe Pageant, 'Fox & Friends'?"

Celebrity gossip blog Perez Hilton even weighed in: "Oh Please, Donald Trump, Make This Country Great Again! The Donald's Presidential Bid Speech Was ABSURD And We've Got All The Crazy Quotes"

I think that's a good place to end. Everybody make sure to vote.

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