One of the things that Trump mocked Clinton for was her lack of face time with the media. He said she was afraid to hold a press conference because they’d pull her house of cards down (my words, but you get the intent).
That’s why it’s especially ironic that, contrary to every president-elect in modern history, Trump (in his infinite wisdom) has cancelled the only press conference he had scheduled since the election. He says he’s going to have one real soon though. And it will be such a good press conference; the best press conference ever.
We’ll see.
But he hasn’t been shy about using his Twitter account. He must have insomnia, since a lot of his tweets come out at 3:00 or 4:00 in the morning. Or maybe he has Kelly Ann Conway wake him in the middle of the night if anyone says anything that might hurt his little feelings.
I’ve heard a couple of things by way of explanation. The most common is that he’s exactly the kind of thin-skinned narcissist he appears to be; he can’t help but lash out when he thinks he’s attacked unfairly (which is every time he’s criticized), and tweeting is easy, without consequences (no one can ask him for clarification) and his brainless followers love it because he’s “telling it like it is.” But to me it’s exactly the thing a bully would do; it’s like shouting insults across a school playground, knowing that no one is going to call him on it.
Another explanation is that he can’t control the media. Reporters insist on calling him out when he lies (nearly all the time) and have the nasty habit of actually asking clarifying questions (for which he has no answers), so he’s decided to avoid them entirely and Tweet his messages. A pretty cowardly way to go, but hey. That’s just how he rolls.
And while I think there’s truth to these positions, I have heard a more sinister explanation. It’s true; Trump is thin-skinned, he is a classic narcissist, and he’s bragged in the past about how he feels compelled to attack with everything he has when he feels he’s been maligned (however slightly). But when he tweets at 4:00 am, it makes all the news feeds; people focus on that instead of whatever else might be going on. How many people paid attention when Trump paid out $25,000,000 to settle lawsuits against his phony university? His action? to tweet that there were “terror attacks in Turkey, Switzerland and Germany” (which wasn’t true). The theory is that his tweets take attention away from a real issue. He settled 3 lawsuits; more could be filed. His “settlement” was to pay about $.50 on the dollar to litigants (so these people still lost half of the money they paid for their “education”), and Trump was able to deny any real responsibility (he did not admit guilt). If the media were doing their job, I’d suggest that the settlement story should have gotten a lot more play.
So could Trump (or his handlers) be tweeting to draw attention away from what’s really going on? Is Trump really that smart?
About BigBill
Stats: Married male boomer.
Hobbies: Hiking, woodworking, reading, philosophy, good conversation.
Tweeter-in-Chief
That’s why it’s especially ironic that, contrary to every president-elect in modern history, Trump (in his infinite wisdom) has cancelled the only press conference he had scheduled since the election. He says he’s going to have one real soon though. And it will be such a good press conference; the best press conference ever.
We’ll see.
But he hasn’t been shy about using his Twitter account. He must have insomnia, since a lot of his tweets come out at 3:00 or 4:00 in the morning. Or maybe he has Kelly Ann Conway wake him in the middle of the night if anyone says anything that might hurt his little feelings.
I’ve heard a couple of things by way of explanation. The most common is that he’s exactly the kind of thin-skinned narcissist he appears to be; he can’t help but lash out when he thinks he’s attacked unfairly (which is every time he’s criticized), and tweeting is easy, without consequences (no one can ask him for clarification) and his brainless followers love it because he’s “telling it like it is.” But to me it’s exactly the thing a bully would do; it’s like shouting insults across a school playground, knowing that no one is going to call him on it.
Another explanation is that he can’t control the media. Reporters insist on calling him out when he lies (nearly all the time) and have the nasty habit of actually asking clarifying questions (for which he has no answers), so he’s decided to avoid them entirely and Tweet his messages. A pretty cowardly way to go, but hey. That’s just how he rolls.
And while I think there’s truth to these positions, I have heard a more sinister explanation. It’s true; Trump is thin-skinned, he is a classic narcissist, and he’s bragged in the past about how he feels compelled to attack with everything he has when he feels he’s been maligned (however slightly). But when he tweets at 4:00 am, it makes all the news feeds; people focus on that instead of whatever else might be going on. How many people paid attention when Trump paid out $25,000,000 to settle lawsuits against his phony university? His action? to tweet that there were “terror attacks in Turkey, Switzerland and Germany” (which wasn’t true). The theory is that his tweets take attention away from a real issue. He settled 3 lawsuits; more could be filed. His “settlement” was to pay about $.50 on the dollar to litigants (so these people still lost half of the money they paid for their “education”), and Trump was able to deny any real responsibility (he did not admit guilt). If the media were doing their job, I’d suggest that the settlement story should have gotten a lot more play.
So could Trump (or his handlers) be tweeting to draw attention away from what’s really going on? Is Trump really that smart?
About BigBill
Stats: Married male boomer. Hobbies: Hiking, woodworking, reading, philosophy, good conversation.