What you need to knowPresident Trump is a 70-year-old man obsessed with television.
Why this is not normalTrump’s staff appear on television because they know if their boss sees them on TV, he’ll be more receptive to the ideas they put on the table. The same goes for pundits and representatives. Newt Gingrich has gone on record saying that before he could even walk from the “Fox and Friends” studio to his car, Trump called him to say he gave good interview.
Foreign ambassadors ask their leaders to go on television, not for publicity, but so Trump knows who they are and their country’s political conversation.
Sean Spicer, a press secretary who has made multiple, large-scale gaffs, will not be fired because, Trump said, “That guy gets great ratings. Everyone tunes in.” Because ratings are a press secretary’s job, not transparency with the American public.
Democracy depends on a well-informed citizenry, whether those citizens are minimum wage workers waiting for mid-term elections or the president. The president is surrounded by experts who have spent decades studying issues and yet, he gets his information from cable news shows whose first priorities are ratings and profit, not the truth.
Trump’s world-altering, political decisions are based on whoever can best dominate the soundbite, just like he did in the election.
Patty TempletonDGO Staff Writer
