President Donald Trump delivered two memorable speeches on the first two days of this week, and the reactions from pundits could not be more different. On Monday, the president gave a measured, TelePrompTer’ed speech about military strategy in Afghanistan that received strong applause. On Tuesday, he gave a “red meat,” less-scripted speech that enflamed the idea that he is unfit for the presidency.
“Tonight is a new President Trump: Acknowledging a flip-flop and talking about gravity of office, history & substance,” tweeted Phillip Rucker, White House bureau chief at The Washington Post, after Trump’s speech on Monday.
Tonight is a new President Trump: Acknowledging a flip-flop and talking about gravity of office, history & substance.
— Philip Rucker (@PhilipRucker) August 22, 2017
Rucker’s tweet received a great deal of criticism even then, but many wanted Rucker to be right.
CNN’s Brian Stelter noted that “some pundits” were predicting a “good night” for Trump.
Some pundits are already predicting a "good night" for Trump. "This will help him." "Positive message." They're talking about a costly war…
— Brian Stelter (@brianstelter) August 21, 2017
National Review editor Rich Lowry praised Trump’s Afghanistan speech. “Confronted with the choice of losing a war on his watch or jettisoning some of his presuppositions, Trump jettisoned the presuppositions,” Lowry tweeted, calling this “the responsible choice,” and lamenting, “If only Obama had made the same one when deciding to pull out of Iraq.”
This is the responsible choice. If only Obama had made the same one when deciding to pull out of Iraq /2
— Rich Lowry (@RichLowry) August 22, 2017
The next day, Lowry, head editor of perhaps the most notoriously anti-Trump outlet on the Right, wrote an op-ed urging conservatives to work for Trump.
Even on Monday evening, however, there were signs of the fall-out to come Tuesday night. Responding to Rucker’s rosy tweet, the account “Pour Me Coffee” predicted, “In 24 hours he will be off script insanely pandering to his base in AZ and you’ll be watching screenshots of this tweet scroll by.” Ouch.
In 24 hours he will be off script insanely pandering to his base in AZ and you'll be watching screenshots of this tweet scroll by.
— pourmecoffee (@pourmecoffee) August 22, 2017
Liberal healthcare analyst Charles Gabba responded to Rucker with a single image: Peanuts’ Lucy pulling the football away from Charlie Brown as the young boy is in mid-kick.
— Charles Gaba (@charles_gaba) August 22, 2017
Salon’s Bob Cesca interpreted the graphic. “All along there has been a subset of reporters and pundits who are desperate to declare Trump to be — finally — presidential. There’s a recurring glitch that triggers these participants in the debate twoard the knee-jerk take that ‘Trump is finally pivoting!’ It’s like the old Lucy and Charlie Brown football ruse from ‘Peanuts,’ and they keep falling for it.”
Naturally, Salon and its writers will excoriate Trump even if he does become “more presidential than any president” besides Abraham Lincoln. Even so, in this case Lucy did once again trick Charlie Brown, and the Trump-hopeful press fell flat on its back.
On Wednesday morning, Rucker pulled himself up off the ground to concede defeat. “Trump plans to say ‘It is time to heal the wounds that have divided us’ today in Reno, hours after his divisive, caustic Phoenix rally,” he tweeted.
Trump plans to say "It is time to heal the wounds that have divided us" today in Reno, hours after his divisive, caustic Phoenix rally.
— Philip Rucker (@PhilipRucker) August 23, 2017
The Post writer also quoted his colleague Jenna Johnson tweeting, “Trump lost his bored & dehydrated crowd but didn’t adjust. ‘His rage seemed to cloud his senses.'”
Trump lost his bored & dehydrated crowd but didn't adjust. "His rage seemed to cloud his senses," @wpjenna writes https://t.co/Zu7zUS7hxY
— Philip Rucker (@PhilipRucker) August 23, 2017
What a difference 36 hours makes!
So what happened? Trump returned to his botched response to the violence in Charlottesville, and he burst open the wounds between himself and Republican lawmakers. He even suggested that he would pardon Sheriff Joe Arpaio.
“Trump won’t slam McCain (‘one vote away!’) because his aides pleaded, ‘Please, please, Mr. President, don’t mention any names, so I won’t,'” Rucker summarized.
Trump won't slam McCain ("one vote away!") because his aides pleaded, "Please, please, Mr. President, don’t mention any names, so I won’t.”
— Philip Rucker (@PhilipRucker) August 23, 2017
Trump has attacked congressional Republicans for good and bad reasons. He inveighed against McCain because the Arizona senator crushed the last hope for “skinny Obamacare repeal.” Less defensibly, Trump has endorsed Kelli Ward for Arizona’s other U.S. Senate seat, in the race against sitting Sen. Jeff Flake.
Trump endorsed Ward despite her history of taking the conspiracy theories about chemtrails seriously, because Flake had the nerve to attack Trump’s candidacy and presidency as a “deal with the devil.” Here’s the deal — many Republicans are asking just that question, and if Trump endorses conspiracy theorists to kick these people out of the party, he is proving Flake’s point.
News also broke — via The New York Times — yesterday that Trump’s feud with senators, most notably Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, helped to sink the possibility of repealing Obamacare. The narrative that Trump is savaging his own party came out loud and clear yesterday, and his speech did nothing to combat that.
Another key element of Trump’s speech? Why, “fake news,” of course!
“I’m literally watching Trump say that CNN is refusing to carry his speech on the air…on CNN,” Richmond communications consultant Tucker Martin tweeted.
I'm literally watching Trump say that CNN is refusing to carry his speech on the air…on CNN.
— Tucker Martin (@jtuckermartin) August 23, 2017
Conservative blogger Matt Walsh tweeted, “I just don’t see how rational conservatives are still defending these idiotic, pointless, narcissistic campaign rallies.”
I just don't see how rational conservatives are still defending these idiotic, pointless, narcissistic campaign rallies.
— Matt Walsh (@MattWalshBlog) August 23, 2017
Other conservatives mocked Rucker’s suggestion that Trump finally became president this week.
“Turned out Trump lied about everything. This was the moment he finally became president,” Iowa talk show host Steve Deace tweeted.
Turned out Trump lied about everything. This was the moment he finally became president.
— Steve Deace (@SteveDeaceShow) August 22, 2017
Deace further excoriated Trump for failing to fulfill his promises. The president “just pretends to be a tough guy for the crowd and then bows to the swamp in DC,” the radio host wrote. “If Trump actually had tried to do the stuff he mouths off about at his rallies, his approval rating would be 10-15 points higher. Instead Trump comes back to DC, gives us endless war, doesn’t repeal Obamacare, doesn’t build a wall, and endorses McConnell’s hacks.”
Ouch.
On Tuesday night, Daily Beast reporter Lachlan Markay mocked pundits like Rucker tweeting, “Shoutout to all the pundits who declared that Trump Finally Became President last night.”
https://twitter.com/lachlan/status/900186968524541953
Harry Enten, senior political writer for FiveThirtyEight, sarcastically tweeted, “Tonight is the night Donald Trump became president.” He tweeted this on Tuesday, right before adding, “Today in Trump: 1. Reports of cursing the Senate majority leader (a member of his own party). 2. Yell about the media.”
Tonight is the night Donald Trump became president.
— (((Harry Enten))) (@ForecasterEnten) August 23, 2017
Despite this, Fox News host Greg Gutfeld declared Trump’s Tuesday speech a success. “The CNN panel: every one is in disbelief. upset. angry. Translation: mission accomplished,” Gutfeld tweeted.
the CNN panel: every one is in disbelief. upset. angry. Translation: mission accomplished.
— GregGutfeld (@greggutfeld) August 23, 2017
Daily Wire editor-in-chief Ben Shapiro agreed. “Media still don’t understand Trump’s game: by responding emotionally to Trump’s rip, they grant credibility to his case,” Shapiro tweeted.
Media still don't understand Trump's game: by responding emotionally to Trump's rip, they grant credibility to his case.
— Ben Shapiro (@benshapiro) August 23, 2017
Even so, the media did seem to play into that narrative. Late Tuesday night, CNN’s Don Lemon — who had called Trump’s speech a “total eclipse of the facts” — asked former Defense Intelligence Agency Director James Clapper if Trump’s speech made Clapper think the president is unfit for his office.
“Yes, I do, I really question his fitness to be in this office,” Clapper responded. “I also am beginning to wonder about his motivation for it. Maybe he is looking for a way out.”
As for “looking for a way out,” it seems utterly unlikely that Trump would want to resign or find another way to leave the presidency to Mike Pence. But Clapper might have been on to something in questioning Trump’s motivations.
When conservatives like Steve Deace are attacking a Republican president for failing to keep his campaign promises, that president has a problem. Deace is likely correct that Trump’s low poll numbers are related to his inability to repeal and replace Obamacare or build the wall, for example.
Trump can blame the Democrats, squishy Republicans, and the media all he wants, but when he turns his guns on conservative senators like Jeff Flake (who voted for every effort to repeal Obamacare), he loses credibility in the worst possible way.
For conservative Republicans who want Trump to be a successful president, this is a huge problem.
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