By Jeffrey A. Rendall
The need for Trump to abandon his social media habit has gotten a lot more urgent
The shock has worn off. Somewhat.
A week after the latest in a seemingly perpetual string of public relations snafus impacting the party – and presidency – of Donald J. Trump, it’s now time to take stock of a problem that continues to plague the outsider chief executive, and, if unresolved, will almost certainly leave Republicans stunned this November.
It’s a well-worn subject. Trump says or does something controversial (in the eyes of his haters), Democrats and the left react – hysterically – and the president moves forward as though nothing ever happened in the first place.
Trump’s singular ability to recover from news tidbits that would absolutely demolish lesser human beings has also been thoroughly explored. To put it mildly, President Trump has been in and out of trouble more than any prominent public figure in recent memory. Some of it – most of it – was the result of Trump’s enemies seeking out and then exploiting nothing-burgers into matters involving all Americans, whether they wanted anything to do with it or not.
But this one seemed different. Speaking of the hub-bub concerning the Trump social media post that linked to a video depicting Barack and Michelle Obama – as apes in a tropical forest.
You could practically sense the “Uh-oh(s)” across the nation as disappointed and alarmed Trump supporters figured… he’d done it again. What would come of this?
In a newsletter post appropriately titled, “Trump, another hair-on-fire uproar, and the midterms”, Byron York reported at the Washington Examiner recently:
“It was one small missed opportunity at a time when the White House needs to make the best use of its opportunities. Yes, a million things can happen before the midterms, especially in the Age of Trump, when it seems like a million things happen every day. Still, it’s reasonable to say that right now things do not look good for Republicans and the GOP president…
“The Republican margin is astonishingly narrow [in the House of Representatives]. Then there is history. The president’s party usually loses House seats in midterms. Only two presidents in the last 90 years — George W. Bush in 2002 and Bill Clinton in 1998 — have seen their party pick up seats, and both were in unusual circumstances. And then, finally, there is job approval. Trump’s approval rating in the RealClearPolitics average of polls is 42.3%, which is not terribly concerning for him but well below the kind of approval that will help his party win House seats. An approval rating well below 50% will make winning the midterms harder.
“Of course Trump knows all this. He has a plan to defy history and the polls. But messes like the video controversy make the job harder by the day.”
Trump does understand this, which, by nature, should mean he could avoid the constant drumbeat of controversy simply by making a few personal behavioral alterations. But he also seems unable – or more aptly, unwilling – to help himself.
It’s as though Trump courts controversy, which in and of itself isn’t necessarily a bad thing for publicity’s sake. If you’re constantly in crisis mode, it alleviates the need to search for firefighters in proximity to put the flames out.
It’s kind of like the red button in Trump’s Oval Office that, when activated, leads to service attendants who bring the president a Diet Coke.
Trump should have a “Switch to Crisis Mode” button, too. But the thing would probably overheat from being pushed all the time. This (Obamas as apes) episode, on its face, was highly avoidable. It’s basic common sense to realize that anything appearing on your social media accounts will be scrutinized in the least flattering way. Even if Trump didn’t make the visual himself, depicting the Obamas as primates in a rain forest was bound to generate intense opposition.
If Democrats and Trump-haters claim you’re racist and bigoted, you don’t need to help prove their contention. We’re talking about the persuadable people here. Is posting a link to a humorous video going to win you votes with serious people?
Nope.
It’s gotten to the point where good/great policy ain’t enough for the man. Informal conversations with fellow conservatives recently have revealed growing concerns about President Trump and his role in lessening the GOP’s chances going into this year’s midterms.
I rarely hear “friendly” protests over policy. Reasonable people take establishment media reports with the requisite level of skepticism and, generally speaking, debates over tariffs and the more contentious aspects of Trump’s platform have largely disappeared from common vernacular. But you know you’re in for trouble when a conversation begins with, “Did you hear what Trump said about such and such?” These aren’t petty worries, either.
Relegated to history are the back-and-forth exchanges with colleagues and friends about matters of substance. These days, they’d rather talk about what Trump’s done – or did — and it’s not like these are positive references. Trump has always had an enormous ego and he’s never been shy about airing thoughts and preferences on any topic. His openness has been refreshing in many ways. But who relishes attempting to justify something personal and inane, such as Trump insisting on rebranding the Kennedy Center to include his name? Really?
I’m hearing “Let Trump be Trump” a lot less these days as good folks grow more and more weary of toiling to rationalize/defend reoccurring outrages the 47th president stirred just because he seemingly can’t control his social media urges. Practically everything else from the administration has some sort of “filter” to soften the message, but not his social media accounts.
Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt does a terrific job of articulating Trump’s policies, but it must be harder and harder to deal with persistent media snoops chasing after the background of Trump posts and utterances. How much of Leavitt’s preparation time is held in reserve to go over explanations for ill thought-through social media posts? Does she have to devote minutes (or hours) to reading everything Trump puts out and then pursue the rationales for why he said what?
“They’re going to be asking about it,” must be a very commonly used phrase around Trump-land.
Everyone knows Donald Trump is the premier political packager and marketer of his generation. He entered politics intending to do it his way, just as he’d done for every other aspect of his life. He doesn’t retreat and he almost never apologizes. Here’s thinking Trump feels he doesn’t need to practice contrition and he does everything for a reason.
But someone needs to get through to him about social media. It’s doing him more harm than good. If Trump encountered something so destructive to his interests in the business realm, he’d get rid of it. The president seems to think his social media accounts allow him to bypass the establishment media to get his message conveyed to the People.
It could still be this way, but Trump desperately needs someone he trusts to act as the “filter” for his posts. As I’ve repeatedly argued before, his political legacy depends on effectively managing the public relations sphere in the nine months until the federal midterms are held in the states. After that, with a Republican majority in Congress, he’ll have a much better basis to cement his legacy with the American public.
“Turn down the temperature,” Mr. Trump.
Trump is playing with fire here. If he can’t get his social media fixation under control, it threatens to take down his entire presidency, because the last couple years of his time as president will be controlled by non-friendly people guiding the congressional agenda – but also, the news cycles.
What’s more important to Trump? Making America Great Again or the need to steer the social media train? Who’s the boss? Where does the buck stop? For whom does the political bell toll?
Trump risks not only the Republicans’ prospects this year, but also the future potential of his MAGA crew, namely vice president J.D. Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio, amongst others. What’s more important, his lasting legacy, or his social media urge?
In his piece, Byron York claimed that Trump lost several more days that could’ve been used to promote his new TrumpRX website (to lower prescription drug prices) and he also allowed, once again, for his economic message to be swallowed up in charges of racism, etc. Donald Trump has demonstrated a remarkable ability to choose political courses to give himself an edge. But if he can’t get ahold of his social media urges, all could be lost. Everything. Think about it.
Any volunteers to have a chat with him?
Jeff Rendall is editor and publisher of GolfintheUSA.com and has written about golf and politics for over a quarter of a century. A non-practicing attorney from California, he moved to the east coast three decades ago to pursue and combine his interests in all things American history and culture. Jeff has worked as an intern on Capitol Hill and in various capacities in grassroots organizing and conservative organizations and publications, including a nearly two-decade stint at ConservativeHQ.com. Column republishing or other inquiries: Rendall@msn.com .