It was useful to see how President Donald Trump comported himself .
Useful for many reasons. One of them: To see so clearly just how little he has learned, since becoming president, about the importance of treating the job accountably. Thus his desire to be Candidate Trump again. After all, the blustery billionaire has had a tough four weeks. Itap only natural that he would seek refuge in his strengths. Too bad for the nation that Trump believes his best play is .
Which leads us to an important question: Why did Trump choose the press conference format in the first place? Certainly press conferences have their place, but this one became a missed opportunity.
Letap remember the scandals that needed addressed.
That the president, knocked back on his heels by the judicial system, .
That several of Trump’s current and former advisers are being investigated for the nature of their contacts with Russian officials during the time that analysts observed the biggest uptick in Russian meddling in the election.
That the national security adviser Trump had to fire, Michael Flynn, lied to the vice president, to the White House chief of staff and spokesman and to the American people.
That Trump knew about Flynn’s demonstrable falsehoods for more than two weeks before the revelation forced him to act.
That intelligence officials warned that the Russians — skilled in the use of blackmail and coercion — might have material that granted them leverage with Flynn and or others that could compromise our national security and interests.
That during Flynn’s spectacular collapse, Trump’s pick for secretary of labor stepped down facing Republican opposition. (The list goes on.)
A reasonable approach to dealing with the public-relations nightmare would have featured a more presidential Trump appearing sincerely before the American people. Trump could have, and should have, addressed the understandable concerns that arise from such a cavalcade of bad news and serious accusations.
Here are the reasons you shouldn’t worry, he could have said. Here is why you shouldn’t be concerned that Flynn is out. Here are the safeguards being put in place to ensure there will not be even the suspicion of undue Russian influence in this administration and in this White House.
Instead, Trump attempted to whitewash these embarrassments and apprehensions by creating the same kind of campaign-trail spectacle he utilized to replace adult seriousness with schoolyard taunts and Jerry Springer entertainment.
Against that feathers-flying commotion, Trump then manages to pass off lies when the truth stands before him. Such as: His administration is running like a fine-tuned machine.
By making it all just entertainment, in which little said by the president of the United States , the game is no longer about truth but about shock value: Advantage Trump.
Trump is difficult to cover objectively because he doesn’t try to win with objective arguments. He believes he can call the moon the sun by simply asserting that he is the most-loved and most-successful president of all time.
This is a man who conflates winning an argument with getting attention.
Covering him requires an advanced set of skills. Reporters trained to react to and debunk subterfuge must avoid the rush of cold-water outrage that comes when lies are presented so blatantly.
We face a one-hand-clapping situation: In treating Trump seriously, you can’t get sucked in to taking him seriously.
You have to absorb his insults to reason, dig back into your obligations as a journalist and continue pursuing the truth.
And what about the leaders in the presidentap party? Shouldn’t they also take up responsible approaches to dealing with this debacle, instead of mostly looking the other way?
Republicans would do themselves an enormous favor by staging an intervention. Perhaps assemble a team of religious leaders sympathetic to Trump’s presidency that can begin to teach him the value of seeking and telling the truth.
Because no one can succeed this way. And Americans deserve better.
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