PRESIDENT TRUMP: I like your hat.As we're about to see, the reporter is bald. Trump is funning with him.
Q Thank you, sir. (Laughter.) Mr. President as —
PRESIDENT TRUMP: Good without it, too. Good head of hair. Good solid head of hair.
Q I don’t have a good solid head of hair, but thank you.
PRESIDENT TRUMP: No, I know exactly what you have, Jeff.
Q (Laughs). Going into your meeting —And the reporter — who looked distinctly cooler with the hat on — goes along with the exposure as a bald guy.
PRIME MINISTER MAY: Appeal to the rest of us. (Laughter.)
PRESIDENT TRUMP: Come on, Jeff. Take it off. Will you show, please?
Q Oh, boy. (Laughs.) Okay.
PRESIDENT TRUMP: I like you better without the hat. Go ahead.
Q Here we go. (Laughter.)
Was that funny or a little mean of Trump, who knew perfectly well that the guy in the snazzy hat was bald? It wasn't as bad as the time — back in '06 — when George W. Bush tried to josh with a reporter who he assumed was wearing sunglasses to look cool and it turned out the man wore sunglasses because he was blind:
"Are you going to ask that question with shades on?" Bush asked.But Bush absolutely did not know the man was blind. Imagine if Bush had known and had talked to the blind man as if he were wearing "shades" to look cool! That would be more like Trump, that edge of sadism to the humor. Trump knew the man was bald. Of course, baldness is a much more normal thing to tease someone about that blindness. And Trump — who's been mocked so much about his hair — may deserve extra latitude on the topic of hair.
"I can take them off," [Peter] Wallsten offered.
"I'm interested in the shade look," replied Bush. "Seriously."
Wallsten said, "All right, I'll keep it, then."
"For the viewers," the president said to the TV cameras, "there's no sun." Some in the press corps laughed.
"I guess it depends on your perspective," replied Wallsten, Zen-like.
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38 comments:
Obviously, the "shades" on the reporter was a set up. I think Trump is to savy to fall for amateur stunts like that being around show biz folk. I'm waiting for someone to throw a shoe at Trump at a press conference and laugh while the secret service blast him away as they should have when it was done to W.
I love the man. And I'm balding (like George Costanza). I love the mockery of the press.
It's like press conference isn’t at all like I was told it was.
The guy did it twice to W. He should have been dead by the second try. Where was the Secret Service agents protecting W?
Where WERE the secret service agents who were suppose to be protecting W? Watch the video. W is pretty fast ducking when agents should have been shooting and blocking!
Joe Biden: "Stand up Chuck!"
Watching the clip instead of readig about I don't think President Trump comes off a mean
Seems like he is just kidding around and the reporter is OK with it.
It boosted his visibility considerably. Note also that it was yje man sitting nexy to him who reached over and lifted his lid.
John Henry
Trump: If you remember, Barack Obama said, well, that your country will have to get on the back of the line
I read recently that PM Cameron asked BO to say that to help his side of the Brexit vote.
American Collusion!
He's more than bald, he shaved it recently. That makes it fair game.
(eaglebeak)
After Trump made all those jokes at CPAC about his bald spot and how hard he tries to cover it, I think he gets a little leeway.
Also, it did make the reporter into a Personage.
Trump: I can relate.
Reporter: Me, too. I was there, once.
I like May’s participation. Jolly good.
Punching down is so classy. Winning!
But, it would not be classy to take shots at the boss. No short jokes from DJT are expected in the next few days.
Carry on.
Did someone steal Strzoks rug. I mean, that rug really tied the room together. Man.
Speaking of etiquette, Trump behaved like the big doofus he is during his visit with the Queen of England. What an embarrassment he is.
Hey PB&J!
Didn’t want you to miss this about how all of Hillary’s emails went to the bad guys.
http://dailycaller.com/2018/07/12/ig-clinton-foreign-emails/
"Speaking of etiquette, Trump behaved like the big doofus he is during his visit with the Queen of England. What an embarrassment he is."
Thanks for all the details.
"What an embarrassment he is."
You mean like you are to a blog read by intelligent people ?
Speaking of etiquette, Trump behaved like the big doofus he is during his visit with the Queen of England. What an embarrassment he is.
You mean he didn't present her with recordings of his speeches ? How gauche.
Looked it up. Here's the thing: I don't give 2 shits about Royal Protocol. And, to think of it, aren't the Windsors-cough-Saxe-Coburg and Gothas the prime example of white privilege?
“You mean like you are to a blog read by intelligent people ?”
No, I mean like you are to the medical profession.
Another facet of that dreaded “locker room talk”, except this time it’s non-sexual and said in public?
I bet the Queen loved Trump. He’s the kind of dude she’s been around her whole life. Certainly more simpatico than the brittle Black Kenyan fellow who was so full of himself, bless his heart!
As a follicle-challenged senior citizen, I understand that a bald (or shaved) reporter sitting out in (even) the English sun in July would want to wear a hat. Perhaps he was a little embarrassed by Trump's teasing, but more likely he enjoyed the attention. The main thing is that it was a masterful performance by Trump and May.
Trump followed protocol exactly. As soon as he got near to her, she extended her hand, waiving any other greeting. He correctly shook her hand as offered. As far as losing step when the Queen was meandering around the grounds, he did as well as could be expected. They should lay those white footprint they use in dance class on the lawn, if they want any different outcome. DM is just being assy and playing to some of their Brit readers that like to "tut-tut" at Americans.
Most Brits in the middle class on up think that most Americans are clods, and New Yorkers in particular are too commercial in their thoughts and attitudes, so Trump fits neatly into a pre-existing stereotype. However, Brits in general are good sports and are willing to take Americans as they find them. Just don't expect them to approve of our behavior.
Trump is too commercial and crass to ever find favor with most Brits. Many Americans (at least half of us) find him refreshingly candid, saying and doing things that need to be said and done.
I'm surprised that no one has commented on the obvious; that this was Trump performing.
It wasn't a matter of gentle humor or rough humor or cruelty or fun. It could have been any of those things or none of them, and it didn't much matter. Trump knew that he was on camera, and he was determined to do a little act in which he was stepping out of the usual role of a politician answering policy questions.
I think that these little acts, as well as Trump's highly imprecise and vague way of speaking ("bad," "strong," "tremendous," "lots of problems," "tough," "very sad,") because he has a powerful -- and justified, no doubt -- insecurity about his lack of specific policy knowledge. He's not going to learn a lot; he doesn't have the energy or the intellectual capacity. I think he's too lazy. And so he feels the need to keep his language generic so that he doesn't get caught making mistakes that would be inevitable with that lack of knowledge in that position.
And in a press conference like this, Trump has learned very well that he can create memorable news-making moments by playing off the fact that he is such an omnivorous TV watcher. Moments that distract from the lack of content in his comments.
Look at just one Trump answer from this presser! Here's one:
Donald Trump: I didn’t criticize the PM. I have a lot of respect for the PM. A story was done that was generally fine but didn’t put in the tremendous things I say about the PM. We have recordings when we deal with reporters. It’s called fake news. The only thing I ask of Theresa is we make sure that we can trade and don’t have any restrictions. We want the U.K. to trade with us. We have a tremendous opportunity to double, triple or quadruple trade. If they’re going to go a certain route, I just said I hope they will be able to trade with the U.S. I read reports that said that would not be possible, but after speaking with the PM and her representatives, it seems that will be possible. We want to be able to trade and they want to be able to trade.
So in just one answer, Trump (a) distracts from the essential truth of the reporter's question; Trump really did criticize May, and it is there on audio for anyone to hear for themselves; (b) falsely blamed The Sun for maliciously editing the interview (c) blamed "reports" for his previous impression that somehow, the UK would not be able to trade freely with the US, and (d) did the Trump thing which is to stay with whatever moment he is in, and say wonderful things about Prime Minister May (after having bashed her in The Sun interview). No integrity whatsoever with the guy. He truly just says whatever is convenient at any given moment.
Blogger Chuck said...
I'm surprised that no one has commented on the obvious; that this was Trump performing.
You answered your own question in the above statement, Captain Obvious.
All the world's a stage Mr Doofus and everyone has their role, including people who wear kick-me signs.
Just for the record, I did not read anything else in Chucks post. My performance on this blog would not be believeable if people thought I read his posts beyond the first inane sentence.
That would be more like Trump, that edge of sadism to the humor.
I respect your expertise in sadism, prof, but what would you know about humor?
Perhaps we can call Trumpie "the celebrated Provincial Amateur of Roscian renown," now that he has been recognized as a famous and talented comic actor.
What in Dickens made me think of that?
blamed "reports" for his previous impression that somehow, the UK would not be able to trade freely with the US
You don’t need “reports” to know the more access the U.K. retains to the EU, the more restrictions on trading with the US the EU will demand in return. The EU cannot have the US run everything through Britain to get around EU import rules.
"Hello again. And now do you like my hat?"
"I do. What a hat! I like it! I like that party hat!"
I bet the Queen loved Trump. He’s the kind of dude she’s been around her whole life.
He's a lot like the guy she married.
I think he's too lazy.
The 70 year old mogul ruling over his multi billion dollar empire, starring in a hit TV show, on his third trophy wife with young children. decided to run for president because he is lazy?
Was that Q from the Bond movies?
@TerriW - it’s what came to my mind also.
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