Althouse: Finally, a Sunday talk-show host objects to Donald Trump's phone-in method of half-avoiding the press.

August 14, 2015

Finally, a Sunday talk-show host objects to Donald Trump's phone-in method of half-avoiding the press.

Chris Wallace: "The idea you would do a phoner with a presidential candidate where they have all the control and you have none, where you can’t see them and they may have talking points in from of them... we are not a call in radio show, we are a Sunday talk show and he is a presidential candidate, you do an interview on camera."

My theory on the phone-ins has been it's too hard for Trump to get his hair into viewable condition. These shows are on in the morning and his alternative approach — that ugly "Make America Great Again" hat — is unacceptable.

By the way, wouldn't it be something if, in the end, Scott Walker is the GOP candidate, Joe Biden the Democrat, and Trump runs independently? You could compare the 3 men in their 3 radically different reactions to baldness. Biden, famous for the surgical strike: plugs. Trump, even more famous for the extravagant combover. And Walker, just letting people see that he's going bald.

39 comments:

Michael K said...: The Trump hairdo is weird. Are you sure that is a comb over ? Toupee ?; 8/14/15, 11:01 AM
Ann Althouse said...: Why would anyone make a toupee like that?

It's obviously a combover. I suspect there is fake hair attached to it in some weird way.

I agree it's weird.

Everyone's been calling it weird for decades. It's weird that it could be weird in the same way for decades. But maybe that's the answer to my question why anyone would make a wig that looks like a ridiculous combover. He's preserving a look he created to deny he was going bald and the wig is a way to stick to his story... to the bitter end.; 8/14/15, 11:08 AM
Qwinn said...: At least Trump talks to the press. When was the last time Hillary did? Has Wallace complained about that? Just hoping for a smidgeon of consistency.; 8/14/15, 11:15 AM
William said...: Hair today, gone tomorrow. Giuliani has finally come to terms with his baldness. Baldness looks better than vanity.; 8/14/15, 11:15 AM
Bayoneteer said...: And which shows that two are egomaniacs who fuss and preen and one is a grounded, serious person.
Biden had been a US senator since age 29 with no significant accomplishment to show for it, Trump was born on third base with no outs and three guys with .500 averages coming to bat, and is massively self congratulatory when runs home. Walker started with nothing got all his victories himself but has a bald spot. Take from that what you will.; 8/14/15, 11:20 AM
Eric the Fruit Bat said...: Now you've got me wondering how John Edwards is doing up top.; 8/14/15, 11:25 AM
SomeoneHasToSayIt said...: Pretty sure one of the main reasons men try to cover up baldness is because many women are shallow enough to make it matter.; 8/14/15, 11:39 AM
Tank said...: Wallace = Loser. He has a look you want to punch. How many times did that fat cow get beat up in high school?

I remember when the bleeder checked Trump's hair on camera. Megyn pulled and pulled, but could not get any relief. Her verdict ... BIG SMILE ... it's real.

Was that ok?; 8/14/15, 11:45 AM
traditionalguy said...: To make it fair Hillary would have to shave her head too...perhaps the way the Federal Prison inmates wear theirs.

Chris Wallace has a right to complain to Trump. Trump exposed him as a grade B pretender working soley for the Bush/Hillary super billionaires PAC.; 8/14/15, 12:03 PM
PDG9 said...: "But maybe that's the answer to my question why anyone would make a wig that looks like a ridiculous combover. He's preserving a look he created to deny he was going bald and the wig is a way to stick to his story... to the bitter end." - A.A.

That was exactly what the late congressman Jim Traficant did - he actually claimed that his hair was real because no one would wear a toupee that looked so bad. Then he got sent to jail, and they took away his hair (why, I don't know, but I guess that's what they do). He pleaded with them to let him keep his hair and thus his secret, but no go.; 8/14/15, 12:08 PM
mikee said...: Let's not get into Hillary's follicular practices. Let's just not.

Reading the Starr Report way back when on Drudge was a hoot, this would just be sad.; 8/14/15, 12:11 PM
HoodlumDoodlum said...: Oh good, avoiding the press is bad again, bad enough to point out in the press. How many questions did the current President take in his first term, again? Sure, we can tu ququoe the Hilldozer but if the press didn't mind it's shabby treatment from the "most transparent administration ever" (snicker) it's understandable that they won't object too much to Hillary treating them even worse.

The clear solution, by the way, is for news outlets to simply say to the candidates "if you don't come on, we won't give you airtime." Easy. Trump won't come in the studio, fine, mention that, and interview Walker instead--I'm sure he'd fly in! That might cost some ratings, though, and after all that's what it's about, Wallace's principled-sounding objections notwithstanding.; 8/14/15, 12:26 PM
Brando said...: He used to have nice hair, too, when you look at his photos from the '70s and '80s.

I think the hair primary is won by Rubio.; 8/14/15, 12:27 PM
Birches said...: This post is too hilarious. I think Walker should also let go of the illusion of hair. I know we all know it's going, but just part with the rest of it, will ya? It's kind of like Michael Bolton in the 90s when he kept the long hair with the giant bald spot. Yuck.; 8/14/15, 12:41 PM
Anonymous said...: I take it Wallace is opposed to candidates calling in to radio shows for interviews.; 8/14/15, 12:48 PM
buwaya said...: It is indeed a very strange complaint.
Trump has been yakking his head off in dozens of interviews.
He seems to accept any interview at all, pretty much.
The complaining about the conditions of the interview seems like straining for a grievance.; 8/14/15, 1:20 PM
buwaya said...: The real problem with all these interviews, is not that he doesn't do plenty, but that neither interviewers not interviewee discuss much of substance, or seem to want to.; 8/14/15, 1:23 PM
Hammond X. Gritzkofe said...: That's a joke, right?

Why would anyone do a 'sitter' interview with Chris Wallace. He has total control of the situation. Probably has a list of talking points in front of him. He'll ask snarky questions that add nothing to the viewers' understanding of important issues, and edit the session to present the interviewee in the worst possible light.; 8/14/15, 1:47 PM
rehajm said...: There are plenty of men who were born on third and go on to be heroin addicts, join a band, squander daddy's hard work. Or accomplish all three.

Good for the Donald.

Trump should give up his notes when Wallace gives up his notes and earpiece.; 8/14/15, 2:06 PM
Michael K said...: " Her verdict ... BIG SMILE ... it's real."

Hav you ever seen a rear view of Biden ? It is all plugs and all in front like an old false front building from 1880.; 8/14/15, 2:23 PM
Ann Althouse said...: "Pretty sure one of the main reasons men try to cover up baldness is because many women are shallow enough to make it matter."

1. But women don't like toupees and combovers! Those are for the camera, for the general public, not for your bed partner, who will be expose to whatever you've really got up there.

2. A confident grounded man dealing with hairloss forthrightly by keeping hair short, very short, will come across as much sexier to a woman.

3. Quit blaming women. That's unsexier than baldness!; 8/14/15, 2:49 PM
Smilin' Jack said...: ELAINE: It's not just hair! Look!

JERRY: It's brown.

ELAINE: It's chestnut with auburn highlights!

JERRY: So?

ELAINE: You're not around women. You don't know how important a man's hair is. I'm sorry, George, but it's true.

GEORGE (close to tears): I knew it.; 8/14/15, 3:08 PM
Original Mike said...: "Pretty sure one of the main reasons men try to cover up baldness is because many women are shallow enough to make it matter."

Why would you want someone that shallow?; 8/14/15, 4:41 PM
Nichevo said...: Original Mike, do you really need that question answered?; 8/14/15, 5:01 PM
Original Mike said...: Plenty of fish in the sea, Nichevo.; 8/14/15, 5:04 PM
Nichevo said...: Depends if you want to eat, or to stock an aquarium.; 8/14/15, 5:29 PM
FullMoon said...: Always figured I would not care about losing my hair. Then, my brother went bald and I changed my mind.

BTW. Tank@11:45 that's pretty damn funny!; 8/14/15, 6:49 PM
Nichevo said...: Or if you just want her stuffed and mounted.; 8/14/15, 7:13 PM
Humperdink said...: It's a shame Megan Kelly was born in Syracuse as opposed to say, Bayonne, NJ. She coulda been a contenda, the second Bayonne Bleeder. Chuck Wepner, of course, being the first.; 8/14/15, 7:36 PM
Birches said...: 2. A confident grounded man dealing with hairloss forthrightly by keeping hair short, very short, will come across as much sexier to a woman.

This.; 8/14/15, 9:25 PM
Known Unknown said...: "1. But women don't like toupees and combovers! Those are for the camera, for the general public, not for your bed partner, who will be expose to whatever you've really got up there."

There you go, speaking for all women again.; 8/14/15, 10:58 PM
Nichevo said...: For the Nth time, Althouse, what you like is not always important. That's part of who he is. Fortunately most women are smarter than you and realize that what they want is not the only thing in life. When you learn that, you took him grow up. Also maybe his experiences with what Top Women like are far greater than yours.; 8/14/15, 11:07 PM
Nichevo said...: For instance you don't like travel. Travel with The Donald would be different than you know travel.; 8/14/15, 11:09 PM
sdharms said...: no, it would not be interesting to see a biden, walker , trump race. It would be the end of our country. In fact, I ama not sure how we avoid it at this point. Why is it that people who have a "microphone" take such a serious thing so lightly? I keep wondering why any pundit would call Hillary the front runner. They should be recounting her crimes and scandals and saying it is preposterous that she is still in the public eye.; 8/15/15, 5:30 AM
Bleach Drinkers Curing Coronavirus Together said...: So a menopausal lady foregoes the obvious news on Megan Kelly's 10-day dismissal from The RNC Propaganda network on account of a strange belief that Trump made an unlikely reference to menstruation, so that she can pretend anyone cares about the non-blow dried GOP candidates' hair. Ok.; 8/15/15, 9:29 AM
Bleach Drinkers Curing Coronavirus Together said...: 3. Quit blaming women. That's unsexier than baldness!

Do as she says! The woman with consummate taste in men has spoken!; 8/15/15, 9:32 AM
grackle said...: Last night I watched Trump’s New Hampshire campaign speech. The hall was packed, a second hall w/TVs was set up for the overflow and there was still a lot of folks outdoors in the parking lot listening to Trump on speakers.

Something I noticed: There was no script, no teleprompter. Trump never once looked down at notes. There were no notes. He looked directly at the audience and interacted with the audience. He worked the audience. What was happening was not a speech; it was a conversation, one-sided to be sure, but a conversation nonetheless.

Trump is able to do what Obama only pretends to do, with Obama’s omnipresent teleprompter, every word scripted and calculated for the proper effect. Trump talks to us instead of talking at us and the audience loves it. I think this is part of Trump’s success. He’s the polar opposite of Obama. Voters are looking for an anti-Obama and Trump is the best example of that.

Earlier, he answered questions from Hannity in a long impromptu presser in the lobby of the hotel on his way to the speech. No questions ducked. No hedging or parsing. No wonder us Trump supporters get excited!; 8/15/15, 10:27 AM
grackle said...: Finally, a Sunday talk-show host objects to Donald Trump's phone-in method of half-avoiding the press.

Trump can only be in one place at a time and a BUNCH of hosts want him on their shows. Ratings still matter and Trump is a hot guest who is much in demand.

But somehow Trump trying to accommodate all these hosts is turned into some kind of thing where Trump is avoiding the press. Absolutely laughable in its misinterpretation, but hey, any flimsy excuse will do for the Trump haters.

As far as Trump doing Chuck Todd and not me, we invited him, they said he wasn’t available, I guess he was available to someone else, we’ll survive," Wallace told Kilmeade & Friends.

I wonder what Roger Ailes, Wallace’s boss, thinks about Wallace’s “we’ll survive” attitude.

Trump detractors: Do not let your hatred cloud your judgement of reality. Try to see things as they really are.; 8/15/15, 10:52 AM
Smilin' Jack said...: "1. But women don't like toupees and combovers! Those are for the camera, for the general public, not for your bed partner, who will be expose to whatever you've really got up there."

By that point she will be far more interested in what you've really got down there.; 8/15/15, 2:17 PM