In the late 1990s, Robert De Niro starred in an action-thriller called “Ronin.” The film itself has largely been forgotten, but the film’s catchphrase has endured. In fact, De Niro says it at the 10-second mark of the trailer:
“I never walk into a place I don’t know how to walk out of.”
It’s a great line. (De Niro might be a political putz, but he’s a helluva actor.) He said it with such a gravelly, ominous tone, it sounded really bada** — like something Rambo might say, right before he annihilates the entire Vietnamese army with his bow and arrow (and good ol’ ‘Murican gumption, dagnabbit).
But when you stop and think about it, De Niro’s line doesn’t make a lot of sense: Well, of course, you only “walk into places you know how to walk out of”! Otherwise, you’d still be there!
Aside from Alzheimer’s victims (Biden looks around nervously), pretty much everyone who enters a room also knows how to walk out. That’s a basic requirement for walking in rooms.
But 25 years later, PR consultants still use the “Ronin” line in media training: Never walk into a place you don’t know how to walk out of.
This means that you don’t ever do an interview (or make a public appearance, or do anything else with the media) unless and until you’re 100% sure what you want to get out of it.
Anything less is media malpractice.
If you go into an interview passively hoping the reporter will ask all the right questions, you’re probably gonna be disappointed. Instead, you must plan proactively: What are the three or four things you wanna accomplish?
Most interviews aren’t long enough to talk about everything, so you narrow it down to just a handful of items. You fine-tune your phrasing and positioning. You choose an image-appropriate wardrobe. And then you do the interview, knowing that it won’t be a success unless you talk about A, B, and C and plug your website (or whatever).
Be like Ronin: Know how to get out of the room BEFORE you go in.
And this brings us to yesterday’s confirmation hearing of Pete Hegseth, President-elect Trump’s nominee for Secretary of Defense. As many of you know, poor Pete was subjected to the slings and arrows of the U.S. Senate’s Armed Services Committee.
But fortunately, those arrows lacked Rambo’s accuracy. Most senators, it seems, have the marksmanship of a Stormtrooper with Parkinson’s.
Because these hearings are absolutely, completely, 100%, from top-to-bottom, a glorified media event: Not a single senator went into the hearing yesterday with the mindset, “Gee, I can’t wait to see what Hegseth has to say. I have an open mind and want to learn more.”
The cake’s already been baked. All of their questions were just for show.
Fortunately, Hegseth has been training for this moment since 2014. That was the year he first joined Fox News. Since then, he’s logged thousands of hours in front of the camera. His experience on “Fox and Friends” was especially well-suited for D.C. show trials, because it taught him how to appear calm, friendly, and grounded — even when he’s not speaking.
That’s crucial in these hearings because the Democrats’ game is to bait the nominee into an angry, unstable reaction. They’re trying to grease the wheels for a viral moment that justifies their (pre-baked) anti-Trump vote.
Hegseth’s job was to do his homework, master the source material, provide a few soundbites, and avoid giving the Democrats what they were looking for.
They certainly tried hard. From Sen. Tim Kaine (D-Va.) excoriating Hegseth for his moral failures vis-à-vis his marital infidelities (which was Musk-level rich, considering that Kaine was Hillary Clinton’s nominee), to being asked to define a “jag-off”:
(Too bad Hegseth wasn’t packing a mirror, eh?)
By the way, take note of Hegseth’s wardrobe: Blue suit, red tie, white shirt — and a star-spangled hanky in his pocket. I’m 99.9% sure a PR doofus like me recommended that color combo. (Game recognizes game!)
Hegseth is smart, likable, and understands the rules. It’s not about winning the hearts and minds of the senators; it’s using the senators as props to communicate to the American people.
That’s part one.
The second part is recognizing that the Democrats are desperately seeking your destruction, but they can’t do it without your cooperation. They need something viral — a moment they can weaponize. So don’t give ‘em the ammo they need.
It’s just show biz, babe!
At the end of the day, Hegseth walked out more likable than the Democrats. They needed to be rude, uncivil, and aggressive to bait him. But he kept his composure, prepped appropriately, and did what he had to do. He walked into the hearing, and then he walked out.
Just like Ronin.
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