I think you are right. The media is twisting these words to meet their agenda; to divide the people.

Left-right culture wars are a distraction from an up-down class struggle between the elites and the people.

There is a growing dissatisfaction with the capitalist status-quo. People are fed up. Any leader who comes along can use this ‘populist’ or ‘nationalist’ (or whatever you want to call it) dissatisfaction will win elections. We are in dangerous times.