As President Donald Trump continues feeding his narcissistic need for attention by holding coronavirus press conferences that he has to be the star of, a journalism professor says he’s doing it because he can’t hold rallies and is calling for the press to showcase him out during this national emergency.
Trump has responded poorly to this pandemic from the start, but instead of smartening up and providing Americans with accurate information and straight talk when we need it most, Trump is still dealing in misinformation and all-out lies to cover his incompetence. That means even undercutting seasoned health professionals like Dr. Anthony Fauci at every turn.
USA Today Journalist Windsor Mann made a startling observation after Trump’s latest press conference circus.
Trump is holding these press conferences because he can’t hold rallies. Public health is not the point. He needs praise like he needs oxygen. His sycophants talk more than experts. Nothing about tests. It’s all about what Trump wants to hear, not what we need to know.
— Windsor Mann (@WindsorMann) March 20, 2020
And that’s not going to change any time soon as NYU journalism professor Jay Rosen explained on Twitter.
It is believed by many people who follow me that tougher, more confrontational questions — and more determined follow-ups — are the answer to press briefings on the virus that allow Trump to elude accountability.
I disagree. It’s is one of my least popular conclusions. THREAD 1/
— Jay Rosen (@jayrosen_nyu) March 20, 2020
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In my view, the lens through which we should interpret the briefings is how to increase the supply and circulation of good information about the virus and what has to be done, and decrease the spread of misinformation, strategic distraction, magical thinking, etc. 2/
— Jay Rosen (@jayrosen_nyu) March 20, 2020
From this POV, a key point to begin at is that Trump at the podium and on TV is the single most potent force for misinforming Americans about the dangers of the virus and what needs to be done now. Yet he is also the star and central figure in the briefings. See the problem? 3/
— Jay Rosen (@jayrosen_nyu) March 20, 2020
It is very widely believed — among people who talk to me on this website, but also among journalists who report on politics — that tough questions and determined follow-ups can prevent the president from using the briefings to inject falsehoods into national discourse. 4/
— Jay Rosen (@jayrosen_nyu) March 20, 2020
From their POV he can be “made” to answer the question by determined journalists who will not back down. It just takes balls! And some solidarity. If he evades or dissembles, follow up. If the follow up fails, the next reporter has to insist. Keep insisting until he answers! 5/
— Jay Rosen (@jayrosen_nyu) March 20, 2020
To me this a fantasy. A malignant narcissist greets even the slightest challenge as a personal attack and evidence of the challenger’s bad character. And Trump is wired differently from me and you in that he lacks the gene for being shamed into good conduct. On top of that… 6/
— Jay Rosen (@jayrosen_nyu) March 20, 2020
…he generates momentum by drawing censure and criticism from those whom his supporters love to despise. The White House press and the show hosts back at the studio sit atop the list of hate objects for soldiers in the Trump movement. All the incentives align toward attack. 7/
— Jay Rosen (@jayrosen_nyu) March 20, 2020
Indeed, this was demonstrated perfectly on Saturday when NBC’s Peter Alexander asked Trump the simple question of what he would tell scared Americans during this crisis, only to be viciously attacked in response without Trump ever really answering the question. Vice President Mike Pence, meanwhile, answered the same question with a compassionate reply that Trump should have delivered himself.
Any normal and sane person watching these press conferences understands that Trump is unfit to lead during this crisis and that he is lying through his teeth and making the crisis worse than it should be.
But Trump is putting on a show for his followers and making the pressers all about himself because he’s treating them like the rallies he can’t hold right now — because doing so risks further spread of a virus that has infected well north of 10,000 people and has killed over 200.
But here’s the bigger problem. If you try to “grill” him about a false statement his reply will typically introduce three new falsehoods without responding one bit to your original. Now you have four things you need to “grill” him about, your time is up, and he’s moved on. 8/
— Jay Rosen (@jayrosen_nyu) March 20, 2020
Another way to put it: the questions proceed in linear way, but when they are put to Trump the lying and disinformation increase exponentially. And remember, our aim is to increase the supply of reliable information and slow the spread of falsehood and strategic distraction. 9/
— Jay Rosen (@jayrosen_nyu) March 20, 2020
When I point this out to believers in tough questions and determined follow-ups, they often revert to a logic I grasp, but do not share. They say that provoking a confrontation with Trump will lead to a meltdown or rage fit that will finally show Americans who this guy is. 10/
— Jay Rosen (@jayrosen_nyu) March 20, 2020
This is another fantasy, a longing for a Joseph Welch moment. Remember him? He was the lawyer who in American mythology is said to have destroyed Joe McCarthy in 1954 with the famous lines, “Have you no sense of decency, sir? At long last, have you left no sense of decency?” 11/
— Jay Rosen (@jayrosen_nyu) March 20, 2020
There is no Joseph Welch in the press corps who is going to “destroy” Trump. And anyway that is not a legitimate aim for journalists who report on him. Accountability IS a legitimate aim, but only a politician with a sense of shame can be held accountable by tough questions. 12/
— Jay Rosen (@jayrosen_nyu) March 20, 2020
Also: It’s become clear to me and many others that the daily briefings on the virus are morphing into substitutes for the rallies Trump cannot hold under social distancing rules. Now imagine if at one of those rallies there was a Q & A session with reporters in the media pen. 13/
— Jay Rosen (@jayrosen_nyu) March 20, 2020
That would be an even worse circus because Trump would spew his bile to cheering supporters who would then boo, hiss and threaten reporters after Trump attacks them for challenging him with tough questions.
Rosen concluded by arguing that it’s time for major news organizations to stop airing these press conferences/rallies live and only show clips of information Americans need such as what Fauci and other health officials deliver.
Picturing that? Because better than any argument I can construct, such an image explains why in my new post I recommend withdrawal from the briefing room, suspension of normal relations with the Trump government, and a switch to an emergency setting. https://t.co/VHrS6OJI9s 14/
— Jay Rosen (@jayrosen_nyu) March 20, 2020
Finally, I have to observe… People who think that confronting Donald Trump more forcefully with facts he cannot deny will produce some kind of accountability must never have lived with a malignant narcissist.
It does not work. 15/ END
— Jay Rosen (@jayrosen_nyu) March 20, 2020
Let’s hope the major news networks listen to Rosen because Trump’s narcissism and ego are killing people.
Featured image via screen capture
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