While most major media outlets sit back on their haunches and wait for the symbolic “other shoe to drop” in the wake of Donald Trump’s latest verbal blunder, his surrogates lean forward practically foaming at the mouth with the fine new prospects presented to them: they’ve finally been given a new angle to work. With each bombshell Trump drops into the melee of this election cycle’s political storm, his surrogates are given the opportunity to embark on an exercise of creativity – the task of turning their candidate’s inflammatory rhetoric into a proclamation of genius which, in and of itself, is actually quite ingenious in terms of its manipulative stratagem.
A New Form of Apologia
Though some might consider this strategy to be verging on desperate at times, it seems to stand as a refreshing new take on what would normally be considered apologia in the face of a mishap or questionable statement. Instead of issuing formal apologies or even attempting to deny what has been said – though Trump does this fairly often when he, himself, is speaking in a public forum –, his surrogates simply use his multitude of missteps as an opportunity to appear on major news networks or talk shows and unpack Trump’s statements in ways that leave viewers confused though, admittedly, somewhat impressed. They often point out unheard-of loopholes in policy that Trump has managed to get around or dig up old skeletons from the closets of those who have publicly challenged the Republican candidate, using the challengers’ proverbial demons as a means to delegitimize whatever accusations they’ve brought up.
Speak for Yourself
A prime example of this is statements made by Rudy Giuliani this morning on ABC News. The former Mayor of New York spoke to George Stephanopoulos about the mogul’s 1995 property tax returns published by the New York Times on Saturday morning. Though the published report is somewhat incriminating, Giuliani provided a very different take on the issue, saying, “He’s (Trump) a genius. Absolute genius… This is a perfectly legal application of the tax code. And he would’ve been a fool not to take advantage of it.”
Whether they are defending Trump’s defamatory statements regarding a former Miss America pageant or his affinity for delaying the release of his tax returns, it is clear that his surrogates are determined to work whatever angle they are given – which, it would appear, may be their only viable option at this point.
I definitely agree with your point. His surrogates have done a good job of deflecting attention from Trump’s mistakes and focusing it on other issues or other people. It has definitely served Trump well because he makes mistakes often. In many ways, this has allowed much more coverage for Trump in the media rather than Hillary. Even though the publicity is not always positive, it takes attention away from Hillary, which is inadvertently good for Trump in certain situations.