leslie-mcmurrayI gotta give the guy some credit: Donald Trump is either getting some really clever advice, or he is smarter than he lets on, at least when it comes to managing the media and his messaging.
When he was elected in November (Thanks Russia!), Trump decided not to do the usual Q&A with the press. Good idea, because goodness knows we have a LOT of questions and we have learned that Trump has very few answers.
Instead, The Orange Oracle tweets from on high; he’s the man in the High Castle. He tweets about the ratings for the new version of The Apprentice. He blames the DNC for being hacked (Blame the victim, that Makes America Great!). He tweeted about the importance of a great relationship with Russia (he will need that to get re-elected right?).
And the media? They print it all!
He even responds to Golden Globe speeches by attacking the great Meryl Streep, calling her “overrated.” Seriously? This is from the guy you elected president?
Again, the media just laps it all up — CBS, NBC, ABC, CNN, MSNBC, even Saturday Night Live.
Time Magazine has a circulation of three million; Rolling Stone is about a million-and-a-half. The CBS Evening News hits about 6.3 million viewers a night. All three of them combined pale in comparison to Trump’s Twitter account.
CNBC declared: “The most powerful publication in the world today is Donald Trump’s personal Twitter account. In the past six weeks, it has moved markets, conducted shadow foreign policy, and reshaped the focus of media around the world. Just today, it caused Toyota’s stock to drop. It is also shockingly insecure.”
Trump has just shy of 19 million followers, far more than would be watching most press conferences, and Trump has 100 percent control of the message. (Well, by “control’ I mean the only viewpoint is Trump’s, not control as in “self control” or “discretion.” Trump is a petty little man with a penchant for grudge holding, and he is a bully, attacking those who challenge him until he tires of the game.
Trump promised to hold a press conference in mid-December, but cancelled it. He has now re-scheduled it, by tweet, no less, for today (Wednesday, Jan. 11).
This strategy, if by design, is brilliant. It protects Trump from being exposed. But I don’t care how expensive the suit, this emperor has no clothes. He will be exposed.
I’m guessing that the “honeymoon” with the press will end sooner rather than later. Trump has said in the past that he has a fantastic vocabulary, he knows the “best words.” Maybe he’s saving them for later. According to an analysis of his speeches done by Carnegie Mellon University, Trump’s vocabulary is “just below 6th grade level.”
This speaks to either Trump’s astute research into the intelligence of his voters or we just elected Jethro Bodine to the White House. Either way, this doesn’t bode well for this little experiment in Democracy we call “America.”
Leslie McMurray, a transgender woman, is a former radio DJ who lives and works in Dallas. Read more of her blogs at lesliemichelle44.wordpress.com