In previous threads (and elsewhere), folks have suggested that the media stop reporting on what Trump says, replacing it with something like “Today, the president lied about something.” Previously, I’ve thought that this would be a foolish mistake, letting Trump run rampant and being ignorant of what dangers he posed, but I’m starting to come around to this line of thinking.
I mean, Trump SAYS a lot of things. Stupid and scary things. But as we all know, what he says and what he actually does are two very different kettles of fish. He says he’s going to declare Antifa a terrorist organization. He says he’s going to send in the troops. But he also said he was going to build the wall, and many many other things I’m pretty sure he WANTS to do.
So is there any value the average voter gets from paying attention to, and taking seriously, what Trump says, as opposed to what he does? The only possibility I can see is forewarning of potential future plans, but even then, can citizens effectively head them off before they become reality, or are they necessarily reactive to what such a high-reaching executive actually puts into real motion in the government works? If the latter, then maybe there is really no reason at this point to pay his words the slightest attention. Maybe all it does is add to fear and outrage that we already know his supporters won’t feel, and we already have enough ammo to try to sway undecided voters, especially once he actually DOES something meaningful.
Unfortunately, it’s impossible to squelch the underlying facts, and doing so will only pique people’s interest further to find out. If the media says “Today Trump said something incredibly sexist and offensive” but doesn’t say what, then millions of Americans will start Googling to find out. And instead of the truth, they may instead find some Breitbart misleading statement meant to make Trump look good and misunderstood.
It’ll help people remember that the head of the executive branch of the federal government is a man who acts like a two-year-old. And it’s sometimes amusing.
You make good points, but I also wonder whether voters themselves should pay any attention to what Trump says, if it’s worthwhile to them at all. Of course, you also make the point, in a roundabout way, that a very good number of people will care, whether they “should” or not, but my question was whether they derive anything useful from it besides despair/glee.
OK, I see. Yeah I agree that 99% of what Trump says isn’t beneficial or necessary for people to hear. If he has important news to share (such as his proposed trillion-dollar infrastructure upgrade,) that information could and would be better off given to Americans courtesy of his White House staff, who would write it in a much more dignified way. Ditto for anything, really. A press release or having someone else write up statements for him.
I think it’s well noting that President Obama never had such blanket coverage whereby every speech he delivered, every press conference, every request for a primetime address slot was agreed and broadcast.