THE media has shamed itself over Donald Trump. Both in America, here at home, and across the rest of the world, journalists treated Trump as a joke – until it was too late.

The Sunday Herald prides itself on having seen Trump for what he is long before he declared his intention to run for president: a swaggering, greedy, sneering, pompous, thin-skinned, dangerous demagogue.

But what we have learned since his declaration makes the thought of him leading the United States frankly unbearable. He is a racist. A misogynist. A tax-avoider. A dangerous narcissist. A blatant, shameless liar. He faces multiple accusations of sexual assault. This is a man unfit for a doghouse, let alone the White House.

There is one word which should only be used when absolutely appropriate, not thrown about with angry abandon – and that word is 'fascist', a term which suits Trump and his politics of hate, fear and division down to the ground. What could smack more of a tinpot dictator than threatening, in a fit of pique during a debate, to jail his main political opponent.

The media has also shamed itself over Hillary Clinton. Clinton may be the consummate Washington insider, but she is also a tireless public servant who has fought hard for women and children throughout her career. She has been cleared, repeatedly, of all claims of wrong-doing made against her.

The false equivalency thrown up between her and Trump is almost proof positive that we live in a post-truth age. Trump's sins weighed against Hillary's sins are as a mammoth weighed against a mite.

Even worse, Hillary Clinton must suffer for what her husband has done. Do we still live in an age where a wife is a reflection of her husband? No woman should have to be held responsible for the actions of her partner. To think otherwise is to embrace part of the dark vision of the world which Trump and his frightening hangers-on project.

Hillary Clinton is the only woman for the job. However, that does not mean that the Sunday Herald does not have its own reservations about a Clinton presidency. Her voting record hints that she may well turn into a highly militaristic Commander-in-Chief.

Trump, perhaps, may be less belligerent on the world's stage than we fear he will be. Firstly, his position on trade and tariffs smacks of old inter-war American isolationism. A Trump America may retreat behind tariff walls and anti-immigrant walls as the USA shrinks in on itself.

It seems unlikely that Trump will seek to find grievance with Putin's increasingly hostile Kremlin either. This is a man after all who encouraged Russia to hack American emails. However, Putin – who could outsmart Trump in a New York minute – may seek to find grievance with a Trump presidency.

Perhaps the most terrifying thing about Trump is the way he represents the acceptance of lies into the political bloodstream. He is a self-made man, he claims, and his supporters cheer him for it. In reality, he is a spoilt rich boy who was given everything by his father. He is here to take on the elites he says, even though he embodies the most dangerous elite of all, the super-rich.

Trump is a mirage, representing whatever his constituency needs him to represent. And, let's be clear, a large swathe of his constituency has been hard-done by. White, under-educated, blue-collar workers have seen their homes and their jobs vanish like snow in Spring under the rapaciousness of unfettered neo-liberal capitalism.

However, they have turned their righteous anger against minorities, when they should have turned it on men like Trump who make a habit of hurting ordinary people. We should not forget that Trump was accused of racial discrimination in his housing empire. He has boasted of using bankruptcy laws to feather his own nest. Here's one of his more revealing quotes: "I've used the laws of this country to pare debt ... We'll have the company. We'll throw it into a chapter [Chapter 11 bankruptcy proceedings]. We'll negotiate with the banks. We'll make a fantastic deal. You know, it's like on The Apprentice. It's not personal. It's just business."

It's like The Apprentice. Perhaps, that is the most telling thing he has ever said. In style and substance this man – who many Republicans cannot even bring themselves to name because of the damage he has done to their party – embodies the worst excesses of our reality show, selfie age. Indeed, creating Twitter storms at two in the morning seem to be his preferred form of politics. His showbiz ego and sense of entitlement are so debased and grotesque that he views women as little more than toys.

His poison is seeping into all sides of American life. Seasoned American journalists find themselves horrified at having to chair debates about Trump insulting a beauty queen over her weight rather than a discussion about healthcare or schools. His supporters mutter about election rigging – and he throws fuel on the fire, fatally undermining democracy, by questioning the outcome of an election that hasn't even happened yet.

There have even been dark hints by Trump of "Second Amendment people" – that's gun owners – doing something about a Clinton win. His rallies are nests of seething anger and abuse against everyone seen as "the other", be they women, the disabled or people of colour.

A Trump win will complete the destruction of politics begun by Bush and Blair and their invasion of Iraq. Their lies over the threat Iraq posed brutally wounded the belief of many British and American voters that their governments could do good. Trump will put a bullet straight through the brain of democracy. And he will be quoting the success of Brexit in Britain while he pulls the trigger.