२४ ऑक्टोबर, २०२२

"You were really shouting at him.... Your shouting, though, was really loud.... You want to get more information from him, not... telling him what he needs to do. You kind of sounded like you were telling him what to do.... You don’t want to do that."

Said Bob Woodward's wife — Elsa Walsh, also a reporter — after she heard him talking on the phone to then-President Trump.

Quoted in "The Trump Tapes: 20 interviews that show why he is an unparalleled danger" (WaPo).

Woodward's response was "Okay. But we’re in a different world now, sweetie."

You can hear Bob Woodward yelling at Trump at the link. WaPo and Woodward are making a big thing out of sharing the tapes. Shades of Nixon, perhaps, or so they hope. But Trump wasn't speaking to his insiders in secret. He was doing an interview with Bob Woodward. Yet Woodward and WaPo present this disclosure of the "tapes" as if they are stretching the limits of their professional methods in order to warn the public about... what they've been warning the public about throughout the Trump era:

In more than 50 years of reporting, I have never disclosed the raw interviews or full transcripts of my work. But after listening again to the 20 interviews I conducted with President Donald Trump during his last year as chief executive, I have decided to take the unusual step of releasing them. I was struck by how Trump pounded in my ears in a way the printed page cannot capture. 

Well, you go over there and listen to these supposedly revelatory "tapes," and you tell me how Trump "pounds in your ears." I heard Trump talking like Trump, and Trump talking to Woodward in a way that demonstrated directly to Woodward that Trump knows Woodward is an adversary who lures interlocutors into giving him useful material. Trump wouldn't play Woodward's game. It doesn't hurt Trump to release the full transcript rather than to pick out the things that are most damaging.

Despite telling us that we're about to get "raw interviews" and "full transcripts," the article cues up a very brief audio clip that has Woodward asking a leading question and Trump responding with exactly one word:

Woodward: Was there a moment in all of this, last two months [in summer 2020], where you said to yourself, “Ah, this is the leadership test of a lifetime”?

Trump: No.

What's so amazing and dangerous about that? Trump can, presumably, see that a yes would require him to recount some sort of inner monologue, and it probably wasn't anything that he thought unless he actually was reviewing his entire life in the midst of that crisis AND thought of life in terms of a "test" of leadership. That's awfully specific, so "no" is a perfect answer that mostly amounts to a rejection of a question. 

But Woodward puffs up the importance of his own question and lets loose a barrage of abuse against Trump:

On the printed page his “no” reads flat, a simple declaration. Now listen to the audio of that exchange. This “no” is confident, dismissive, full of self-assurance.

Yes, it's more like "Fuck you, Bob." He didn't like the question and it actually was a bad question, though I'll bet none of your other interviewees deflect your earnest efforts like that.

It leaves no doubt about the finality of his judgment. This “no” distances him from bearing responsibility.

No, it doesn't. And your characterization of his "no" reflects on you. Ironically, it distances YOU from bearing responsibility for a tendentious question.

Sound has an extraordinary emotional power, an immediacy and authenticity.

Ah, yes, and now think again about the power the sound of YOUR voice, Bob, had on your own wife.

A listener is brought into the room. It is a completely different experience from reading Trump’s words or listening to snatches of his interviews on television or the internet.

Trump’s voice magnifies his presence.

And yours. Play the whole tape. Expose everything. You've been withholding the full tapes for 50 years, you say, and you're only making this one, super-rare exception because something must be done about Trump. I don't think this new revelation hurts Trump at all, and I suspect that if it did have the power to really hurt him, you'd have released the "tapes" long ago and that the only reason we're getting them now is that you have reached a truly desperate dead end.

We’re in a different world now, sweetie.

१०२ टिप्पण्या:

Anne in Rockwall, TX म्हणाले...

no need to publish this one, just a quick typo in the last line

if it di, not it it did

thanks

Wilbur म्हणाले...

Why would Trump ever agree to hours of so-called interviewing by Woodward?

Christopher B म्हणाले...

Bill Casey was unavailable for comment.

Except to Bob Woodward.

Robert Roy म्हणाले...

It sounds from your last line that the condescension inherent in his remark to his wife struck you as poorly as it did me.

TreeJoe म्हणाले...

Sounds to me like Woodward is finally exposed for what he is - a second rate journalist who has spent his career trying to repeat something he stumbled through 40 years ago.

veni vidi vici म्हणाले...

"Fuck you, Bob" is a decades overdue verbatim response to that tweezle. Trump got as close as we're likely to see in Woodward's lifetime, it seems.

Wa St Blogger म्हणाले...

Boom goes the Althouse.

Richard म्हणाले...

I am the great and powerful Bob Woodward. How dare you not answer my question.

robother म्हणाले...

I am Woodward, hear me roar!

Kate म्हणाले...

"But we're in a different world now, sweetie" is the best summation of every NeverTrumper's and hard Leftist's justification for the breaking of the liberal order. They're ready to shoot the nascent Hitler and quite proud of their resolve.

rhhardin म्हणाले...

I'm a follower.

Mr. Forward म्हणाले...

Blog post of the year goes to Althouse.

Jupiter म्हणाले...

Jesus, Althouse. You really got the bat on that one!

(And that's pronounced Hay-Seuss).

Ron Winkleheimer म्हणाले...

Why is the establishment so afraid of Trump? Their frantic, insane reaction to him is making me start to wonder if "conspiracy" theories I would have previously discounted as insane are, in fact, factual.

Gunner म्हणाले...

Trump deserves blame for wasting any energy talking to Woodward. But I don't see any of Trump's much more politically aware advisors saying that they told him not to do so.

Saint Croix म्हणाले...

"You were really shouting at him.... Your shouting, though, was really loud....

ha ha

"Never argue with a fool, onlookers might not be able to tell the difference."

-- Mark Twain

Mr Wibble म्हणाले...

Why is the establishment so afraid of Trump? Their frantic, insane reaction to him is making me start to wonder if "conspiracy" theories I would have previously discounted as insane are, in fact, factual.
---------

Trump wasn't repudiated in 2020. If Trump wins in 2024 it will not only be the greatest political comeback in us history, but a rejection of the establishment and a vindication for trumpism.

Saint Croix म्हणाले...

I used to have some kind of respect for Bob Woodward. Sort of a Republican, and Robert Redford played him the movie.

Now you are under David Brooks. Way under. David Brooks has kept his cool, in that inane prep school way of his. He's kept his sense of detachment and is not actually insane.

I'm continually astounded by the people who are so angry about Trump now. I cannot imagine Bob Woodward calling up Nixon, after he's resigned, and yelling at him.

I get being mad when the opposition party is in power and doing stupid shit. I'm used to dumb fucking people having power over me. I can see why it would make you mad. But not when they're fired! You should celebrate and do a little dance.

Your inability to do that is profoundly weird and makes me wonder about the honesty of our last election.

TeaBagHag म्हणाले...

Paul Revere may have been a paranoid schizophrenic but the British really were coming.

Quayle म्हणाले...

"Sound has an extraordinary emotional power, an immediacy and authenticity.", says Bob Woodward persuasively (or anyway, to most of us is self-evident.) Then pray tell why "In more than 50 years of reporting, [you] have never disclosed the raw interviews? And while we're on it, why have you never before provided full transcripts of [your] work?

Who is it actually, who has been a threat to democracy, Bob? The gate keeper who everyone fears, or the gate keeper who because of the internet has now been found out as a useless gate keeper, and is now scrambling to explain why there is a gate in the first place?

Carol म्हणाले...

Woodward is senile. His affect on TV is so slow and bumbley...still getting by on the fumes of Watergate.

Bob Boyd म्हणाले...

We’re in a different world now, sweetie.

Wow! I could almost hear the air rush out of the puncture wound in Woodward's swollen head after that perfect thrust.

Dear corrupt left, go F yourselves म्हणाले...

I question why Trump thought it was a good idea to talk to Woodward.

Wince म्हणाले...

WaPo and Bob Woodward tell us this one is YUGE!

Dear corrupt left, go F yourselves म्हणाले...

Trump likes to walk into the left's lie-ring.

Never walk into the left's lie-ring.

Mike Sylwester म्हणाले...

Democracy Dies in Darkness!

Earnest Prole म्हणाले...

The Trump Tapes: 20 interviews that show why . . .

the walls are closing in . . .

it’s the beginning of the end . . .

blah

blah

blah

tim maguire म्हणाले...

Among the many amazing things about the Trump phenomenon is how many otherwise intelligent competent people are so desperate to bring him down and so astonished that they have to make an argument against him at all--that we don't already see it ourselves--that they have completely lost the ability to hide how desperate they are.

Shouting louder and using more extreme adjectives does not make one more convincing. It makes one absurd. Laughable.

Christopher B म्हणाले...

I have no inside info and don't think I've seen or heard of Trump expounding on why he agreed to the Woodward interviews but my guess would be some combination of

1) sheer enjoyment of the verbal pugilistics
2) belief, maybe unfounded, that he could control the interviews
3) knowledge that Woodward has enough clout to get pretty much anything published with minimal need for justification so the only thing worse than giving him the raw material directly would be to have *other people* giving him the raw material.

JAORE म्हणाले...

Abortion was not the game change they thought it would be.

But Orange Man Bad is evergreen or so they think.

I've looked at the sample ballot from my state. Damned if I can find Trump on there anywhere. But I suspect some states will allow straight D, straight R and straight anti-Trump.

Mike (MJB Wolf) म्हणाले...

Bob should have listened to her.

Saint Croix म्हणाले...

We’re in a different world now, sweetie.

ha ha

sweetie with bile

In the South we use a lot of "sweetie" and "honey" and "sugar."

They are people who like the sweet talk, and other people it makes them super-mad. I've known people who can lose their shit over a "baby."

I knew a woman who used to baby-talk to adults, that was kind of infuriating.

Jim म्हणाले...

If only we could hear tapes of 20 phone interviews with Joe Biden or Fetterman. Now I’d pay to hear those.

Michael म्हणाले...

Their heads are going to explode when Trump decides not to run and backs Desantis.

cassandra lite म्हणाले...

Astute exegesis, Ann. Well done.

We can infer from Woodward's assumption that the public will view this with the same alarm he did that that's how he approaches all his work; and it certainly confirms what we've long heard about him: If you want to be treated well in his books, cooperate by telling him what he wants to hear.

Birches म्हणाले...

Well this post was certainly worth the wait.

CharlieL म्हणाले...

Well done, Ann.

Jake म्हणाले...

"a leading question"

I don't read that as a leading question. It's open-ended. He can answer yes or no. You may presume Woodward wants the answer to be yes, but that does not make it a leading question. Woodward could have led him - he could have said, "There was a moment in all of this, last two months [in summer 2020], where you said to yourself, 'Ah, this is the leadership test of a lifetime', correct?"

Dave Begley म्हणाले...

Maybe the Althouse community should start a prayer circle. The prayer would be for God to give Donald Trump the wisdom to NOT run for President again.

We loved his four years. He was a great, great president. But the second term would be so much drama.

Let Ron do it. It's his time.

Sebastian म्हणाले...

Althouse: "We’re in a different world now, sweetie."

Correct. Althouse is on the mark. But now what?

We deplorables saw Bob W and his MSM comrades as nefarious prog operators years ago. We have been arguing for #Resistance against prog hegemony for a long time. We think it is destructive. We took Trump as an imperfect but nonetheless better-than-nothing vessel--for reasons hinted at in this very post. But to all moderate swing voters, the Althouses of America: when have you had enough, and what will it take for you to join the #Resistance, consistently?

pacwest म्हणाले...

Why is the establishment so afraid of Trump?
I think it has something to do with rice bowls.

Vance म्हणाले...

It's absolutely horrible that yesterday's conspiracy theory is, in fact, today's news headlines.

Over and over and over again. Thanks leftists!

Lurker21 म्हणाले...

That's a lot of controversy about a simple deflection, the sort of thing Biden and his press secretaries give us multiple times each week. There's a tendency in the Washington press to build everything up into "the defining crisis of your presidency," especially if they don't like the president in question. Maybe Trump doesn't see things in such an alarmist light, or maybe he just didn't want to answer the question at the time.

Trump's impulsiveness and uncontrollability were feared by many and still are, but mostly they manifested in trusting people he shouldn't have trusted -- Woodward, Haberman, Kushner, Wray -- or in verbally lashing out at people who he believes betrayed him. Not much of a threat there to "our democracy."


Has anybody noticed that Woodward and Bernstein become more Nixonesque as time goes on? It's hard to pinpoint it exactly, but they're gloomy, dogged, suspicious, secretive, "saturnine" figures, who live more and more in the past and want to recapture lost glory.

Did Trump, growing more suspicious himself as time went on, pick up on that and think Woodward's saturnine qualities made him a compatible counterpart? Or was he just impressed by Woodward's fame?

Dear corrupt left, go F yourselves म्हणाले...

My biggest problem with Trump is that he thought he was going to be adored by everyone - and it blinded him to the hell-fire hate and retribution that is common place on the left.

Jan 6th was a lay-up for the left to use against him and his supporters. Not saying some of his supporters acted like adult- they did not. Trump doesn't understand how to think three moves ahead of the corrupt and crafty left.

Wilbur म्हणाले...

Every so often I will go to Left websites (HuffPo, New Republic, Mother Jones, Nation, etc.) just to get a look at what they're into now. The Woodward thing is getting play, and apparently some Trump organization is going on trial in New York with loudly-proclaimed, guaranteed dooming consequences for Trump.

This morning's visit convinced me again that a) Trump, per the cliche, lives in their heads 24/7 and b) if Trump didn't exist they'd have to invent him.

Oh, and they're getting a little nervous about the midterms.

BUMBLE BEE म्हणाले...

Trump hatred from the dems, who used to say "Hate is Not A Family Value"? Bullying from the dems who led the Anti-Bully parade? Censorship from those who lived by the free speech movement? Seems they were laying out the framework for this era for some time now.
Mr. Winkelheimer has it right.
It all points one way. I maintain SDS Weathermen never disbanded. See also Buraq.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buraq

Mattman26 म्हणाले...

Oh, these people.

I wonder if the assumption of Woodward and WaPo is that few people, even among fervent Trump-haters, will actually take the time to listen (or, for that matter read), so they can just glance at the headline and/or intro and come away with: "However bad we already knew it was, turns out it's even worse!"

traditionalguy म्हणाले...

The Baby Boomers are three generations ago. Trump knows his audience and can speak to their minds. The old timers like Woodward are really BORING and like watching the is like b&w silent movies.

mezzrow म्हणाले...

There's a book (or two) to come from what's in store. Maybe's somebody's sweetie will see what we see and write about it.

I've read somewhere that the winners write the history. Maybe so. It's going to be too interesting to ignore. I hope the right person tells it and doesn't have to lie too much in the process.

rcocean म्हणाले...

Althouse - Great analysis.

BTW, what bonehead persuaded Trump to waste his time talking to Woodward? Probably Kushner or Ivanka. Or Chris Christie or some other RINO. Woodward was NEVER going to give Trump a fair shake. NEVER.

Oh, Woodward has a 50 year rule to never release interview tapes, but now he's going to break that rule, because Trump is "a danger to Democracy". LOL! We all know that if Woodward had "The goods" on Trump he would've leaked the transcipts and tapes in the fall of 2020.

The DC Democrat, the MSM, and Republican Establishment could have treated Trump as a legitimate President, and simply worked with him for the good of the country. We could have had a resonable debate over Tariffs, Immigration, border control, and foreign policy. That would've been responsible and patriotic. Instead they've spent 6 years tryng to destroy Trump by hook or by crook, lying about him, screaming hysterically, impeaching him, and refusing to budge one Goddamn inch from their Globalist, establshment positions.

If TRump has had done nothing else, he's shown these people to be the complete frauds and liars they truly are. And clowns who don't deserve the power they have.

Levi Starks म्हणाले...

Someone who is an effective leader and speaker for for 1/2 of the nation (the wrong half) is clearly an existential threat to the other half (the correct half)

Leland म्हणाले...

Is it blogs sweep weeks? Excellent post.

It would be more interesting to know what Woodward thought was the leadership test. Handling of the 2021 riots funded by Trumps opponents? Failure of his DOJ to prosecute any of the rioters? Or the media making Covid a global emergency by reporting Lancet and Imperial College models predicting 2 million deaths in the US alone? The fact that all these things ran counter to what they should be doing; BLM lead to more black lives being lost due to increased crime in minority neighborhoods, DOJ lost the credibility of Justice in America, and by creating hysteria in the public, real harm was done to young generations and disrupted early diagnosis of other diseases for years while cratering media credibility. Was Trump supposed to lead them away from these self-destructive things? Does Woodward believe they would have followed Trump?

Dagwood म्हणाले...

Woodward is in the same tired old elitist bubble-world he's always been in.

LA_Bob म्हणाले...

"Why is the establishment so afraid of Trump?"

Because Trump is that most unusual person, who climbed out of his sandbox where he was a Top Dog (real estate, reality TV) and entered someone's else's sandbox (politics and government), looking to play. But he didn't start humbly at the bottom, in the state legislature or the House of Representatives, work his way up to state Attorney General (oh, can you imagine Trump in that job?) or Senator, build a track record, build political alliances, campaign for people, and then, only then, pursue the Presidency as one of the clan. No way.

Trump went right for the Top Job, Top Dog in someone else's sandbox. President of the United States.

And won!

He won without friends or allies, without folks who owed him political debts. He won without any experience in elective politics at any level. First time out he beat the Establishment in its own sandbox.

That is a cardinal sin. And the Establishment simply had to fight back. Pure territoriality. Pure turfism. Trump could not be allowed to succeed. It was, and is, unthinkable. Impossibly unacceptable.

And that is why the establishment is so terrified of Trump and must destroy him at all cost, legal and illegal. He must Never Do That Again. And be made an example to others.

Enigma म्हणाले...

Trump BROKE many on the left and many in the establishment (Republicans). They can't get over him. It's akin to a high school student committing suicide because of a first crush gone bad. Romeo and Juliet.

It'd be funny if many of the broken were not in power. It'd be funny if they didn't stage mock assassinations of Trump circa 2017, if they hadn't fabricated "Russia, Russia, Russia", hadn't raided Mar-a-Lago, hadn't created nonsense about Supreme Court justices, and hadn't held endlessly stupid Jan 6 hearings. Etc. Etc. Etc.

But, broken they are and broken they will die. Effective politicians don't come across as clowns. Pray that Tulsi Gabbard and clan can bring enough of them back to reality to avoid nuclear/COVID annihilation.

Dude1394 म्हणाले...

NOTHING that the democrat propaganda media says about trump can be trusted at not face value, but ANY value.

MB म्हणाले...

Trump pounded his ears, but Woodward was the one who was yelling.

I may have to listen to the tapes to figure that one out.

Breezy म्हणाले...

Even after all the Trump knowledge in the ecosystem, so many people still don’t understand him, including what makes him a politician with Marvel level super powers.

Amadeus 48 म्हणाले...

Trump has been talking his way out of my world, and Woodward just dragged him back in.

These media types never understand that less can be more. Does anyone think that Kanye West has gained credibility with his weird rants? Let him wear the jacket, as we say in Chicago. The same thing with Trump. He talked himself right out of the presidency with those Covid press conferences, and then he made matters worse for himself by going silent for four hours on Jan 6. If you want to get rid of Trump, let him talk and don’t attack him.

Sheesh.

RNB म्हणाले...

"Writers are always looking to screw somebody." -- Marion Davies

Heartless Aztec म्हणाले...

Althouse channeling Kari Lake - though more eruditely.

RoseAnne म्हणाले...

Ron Winkleheimer said...
Why is the establishment so afraid of Trump? Their frantic, insane reaction to him is making me start to wonder if "conspiracy" theories I would have previously discounted as insane are, in fact, factual,


I have had the same reaction. With few exceptions, the Republicans I know who voted for Trump did so in 2016 in part because of overall Clinton fatigue but mostly because Hillary was such a bad option. The answer to that should be better candidates - it wasn't.

Left Bank of the Charles म्हणाले...

Sounding like he was telling Trump what to do describes every interview Sean Hannity has done with Donald Trump.

Dave Begley म्हणाले...

Woodward wrote that Trump is “an unparalleled danger.” That’s both opinion and a conclusion. About half the country disagrees.

What is wrong with these East coast fuckheads? Just because someone disagrees with the liberal Swamp order, doesn’t make them a danger to the Republic.

A big part of me wants Trump to run and win and then crush the Left. But there is no doubt in my mind that DOJ will indict Trump for something within the next 60 days. I expect the FBI to show up at MAL on Thanksgiving day.

Michael K म्हणाले...

Woodward thinks he and Bernstein "got" Nixon and have been trying to repeat what they consider a big success. In fact, they were stenographers for Mark Felt who got a superb revenge for Nixon not appointing him to replace Hoover. Actually, Felt would have been a perfect replacement for Hoover who was just as dishonest and manipulative as Felt.

Michael K म्हणाले...


Blogger Left Bank of the Charles said...

Sounding like he was telling Trump what to do describes every interview Sean Hannity has done with Donald Trump.


I don't watch Hannity or Laura Ingraham because they always talk over their guests. It's not just Trump.

ga6 म्हणाले...

Woodward making stuff up since 1967.

Ficta म्हणाले...

LA_Bob is right that Trump invaded "their" turf, but I think he (LA_Bob) doesn't go far enough. It's not just the political system's territorialism, it's also class rage. The New England WASPs and their pets cannot abide the idea of the Scots Irish getting above their station (Trump himself isn't actually Scots Irish, but his most fervent supporters are). Their serfs must be brought to heel, and that right quickly. America's ruling class are behaving like something out of a 1930s Red propaganda film.

Wa St Blogger म्हणाले...

@David Begley

We loved his four years. He was a great, great president. But the second term would be so much drama.

Let Ron do it. It's his time.


I think you are cute when you are naive. The drama comes not from the person in the role, but by the haters of the party of R. The left will be just as insane with DeSantis as with Trump. The left will say that DeSantis is "worse than Trump." And they one who follows DeSantis will e "worse than DeSantis." Lather, Rinse, Repeat.

effinayright म्हणाले...

When I hear Woodward's voice and see his sagging face, I always ask myself:

"Has anyone ever seen Bob Woodward and Grandpa Simpson in the same room?"

Kevin म्हणाले...

All the Democrats had to do to keep Trump out of office was govern competently and not further divide the country.

Even they knew it was beyond their abilities.

effinayright म्हणाले...

Blogger Left Back on the Charles said...

Sounding like he was telling Trump what to do describes every interview Sean Hannity has done with Donald Trump.
***********

False equivalency: Hannity hasn't hidden his interview tapes for fifty years--they're right there on TV---and he's not out to "get" Trump.

What's emanating from your penumbra म्हणाले...

Yikes, Ann. Normally it's a questionable tactic to pick on the mentally unwell. But I guess your last line sums it up.

effinayright म्हणाले...

Jake said...
"a leading question"

I don't read that as a leading question. It's open-ended. He can answer yes or no. You may presume Woodward wants the answer to be yes, but that does not make it a leading question. Woodward could have led him - he could have said, "There was a moment in all of this, last two months [in summer 2020], where you said to yourself, 'Ah, this is the leadership test of a lifetime', correct?"
***********

I'm not sure the question is "leading", according to the definitions below:


https://www.surveylegend.com/survey-questions/leading-questions/

But it sure sounds like Woodward wanted a "yes" answer. He's far from "just askin'".

Iman म्हणाले...

I’ve about had it with this mierda del toro… Woodward and the rest of this gravy train, Democrat operative media can bugger off now.

Quayle म्हणाले...

I can't help it. Whenever I hear the cry "Our democracy is in danger!" what I hear is "My sinecure is in danger!"

PM म्हणाले...

Can't understand why the Dems are worried about losing the midterms and the WH.
They live to project 'underdog' even when they're overlords.

boatbuilder म्हणाले...

I’m old enough to remember when the walls were closing in after the pre-dawn Mar a Lago raid got the goods. Big National Emergency!
Apparently not big enough that anybody cares any more.
On to the next Trump Outrage!

Jamie म्हणाले...

Sounding like he was telling Trump what to do describes every interview Sean Hannity has done with Donald Trump.

Not really the point, though, is it, Left Bank? Woodward isn't getting schooled by our host for telling Trump what to do. He's getting schooled by our host for not realizing that he's projecting all over the damn place, engaging in mind-reading by ascribing motives and feelings to Trump while having no idea (nor interest, since he's already made up his mind) how Trump actually feels or what he bases decisions on, and generally being a self-aggrandizing doofus who thinks that because he got journalist-lucky fifty years ago, he is the Sage of Washington.

Heywood Rice म्हणाले...

Hannity hasn't hidden his interview tapes for fifty years--they're right there on TV... - effinayright

Selectively edited like the Kanye West interview?

Lem Vibe Bandit म्हणाले...

This could be part of what has led to some equivocation on the part of Liz Chaney and the Jan6 lynch mob, about whether to let Trump testify on live television.

Last I heard they are shrinking from the idea of letting Trump talk live on television, like the White House shrinks from the idea of letting Biden do more interviews.

I suspect they've heard the WAPO tapes, and they've seen videos of Trump giving depositions.

Trump may not be Demosthenes incarnate, but in front of a camara he is unflappable.

Tom T. म्हणाले...

This is embarrassing for Woodward, to be shown to be so easily rattled.

Misinforminimalism म्हणाले...

If Trump were the existential threat they (or if they believed that he is), that article wouldn't be behind a paywall. QED.

Temujin म्हणाले...

"Yet Woodward and WaPo present this disclosure of the "tapes" as if they are stretching the limits of their professional methods in order to warn the public about... what they've been warning the public about throughout the Trump era:In more than 50 years of reporting, I have never disclosed the raw interviews or full transcripts of my work."

The Washington Post, an organization that specializes in more leak distribution than the Titanic and Lusitania put together, presents this as if it was a hard thought-out decision to save the nation? Now? After years of leaking faux story after faux story to handcuff and/or end the Trump Presidency?

Who's biting?

Butkus51 म्हणाले...

someone told me Woodward is a Pedophile. I believe them.

Butkus51 म्हणाले...

someone told me Woodward is a Pedophile. I believe them. No reason not too.

Iman म्हणाले...

“Selectively edited”… the perennial lament of bad-actor Democrat bitches everywhere.

Jaq म्हणाले...

People who, maybe really, or maybe pretend that they can’t understand Trump calling him stupid is endlessly entertaining.

Roy Lofquist म्हणाले...

They were right to fear Trump. Let's see what the score is on Jan 3, 2023.

gadfly म्हणाले...

Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, whose wife was involved in the effort to overturn President Biden's election win has temporarily blocked the South Carolina senator from speaking under oath. If the Supreme Court is legitimately considering whether Lindsey Graham’s efforts to overturn an election for Donald Trump fall under protected speech because participating in a coup is part of his congressional duties as a senator, then the Supreme Court will be legitimizing election losers to attempt to overthrow governments.

Two courts have previously agreed that Lindsey Graham must testify under oath before a grand jury investigating illegal actions regarding efforts to alter vote counts. Graham, in his duties as a senator from South Carolina, had no legitimate basis to directly call Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger. There are no facts not known or not previously considered. "Lady G" screwed up, likely at Donnie's personal request. I wonder who is paying the senator's extensive and useless legal bills since everyone can listen to Trump's conversation with Raffensperger where he needed the Georgia officer overseeing voting to "find 11,780 votes."

veni vidi vici म्हणाले...

Bob "Wood-word"

His name perfectly describes his writing/"journalism".

Christopher B म्हणाले...

Blogger effinayright said...
Jake said...
"a leading question"

I don't read that as a leading question. It's open-ended. He can answer yes or no. You may presume Woodward wants the answer to be yes, but that does not make it a leading question. Woodward could have led him - he could have said, "There was a moment in all of this, last two months [in summer 2020], where you said to yourself, 'Ah, this is the leadership test of a lifetime', correct?"
***********

I'm not sure the question is "leading", according to the definitions below:


https://www.surveylegend.com/survey-questions/leading-questions/


By my reading of your link, the original question was not a Coercive leading question (though Jake's reformulation is) but it arguably fits under Direct Implication as well as Interconnected Statement forms of leading questions. Woodward is pretty clearly attempting to plant the suggestion in Trump's mind of expounding on 'leadership test of a lifetime' which is what makes his flat 'no' a bit of a shock.

Leland म्हणाले...

100% what LA Bob wrote at 11:12am. That's it. The Establishment can't let Trump stand, because it would show that you don't have to play by their rules to win. That's why they try to deflect by saying Trump demands fealty, when in reality, it was the Establishment that demanded fealty from the start. And for the progressive trolls that might try to capitalize on this by claiming it is the GOP Establishments that demands fealty, you can eff off with your lies.

gadfly म्हणाले...

effinayright said...

Hannity hasn't hidden his interview tapes for fifty years--they're right there on TV---

Umm no - I am unsure where "right there on TV is," but Sean has not been a broadcaster for fifty years. He had a local talk show in Atlanta in 1980 and eventually landed back in his home county in NYC. He substituted on Rush's show many times before doing TV by joining the new Fox News Cable (back when local cable would not contract with Fox because of the Big Three) in about 1997 where he started out co-hosting the Hannity and Colmes Show. Fox also wanted Rush but he never liked TV rules.

Leland म्हणाले...

Graham, in his duties as a senator from South Carolina, had no legitimate basis to directly call Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger.

Calling elected officials is illegitimate? No wonder you think Jan. 6th is something. You seem to think anyone demanding answers from elected officials is committing some sort of crime.

I'll give you a call on that was illegitimate. Nancy Pelosi calling the JCS and demanding they refuse to take orders from President Trump. They are not elected officials and Trump was at the time their duly elected Commander and Chief. What Pelosi did was an attempt to seize power from the Executive Branch. It is what a coup really looks like. I hope the Republicans investigate Pelosi's actions that day and sanction her appropriately.

Readering म्हणाले...

Not really picturing Woodward at a desperate dead end. If he wants to write another book I'm confident there's a publisher willing to give him a healthy advance to spend on tapes. But his last one had a younger co-author, and maybe he does not have the energy for another one. Like Trump, apparently.

Saint Croix म्हणाले...

The Woodward book titles about Trump are like a window into Woodward's mind.

Fear (2018)

Rage (2020)

Peril (2021)

Future possible titles...

Apocalypse (2022)

Satan's Apprentice (2023)

I Am Off My Meds (2024)

Ralph L म्हणाले...

Was Trump's the first administration not to have a Woodward book published about it, or did I miss it? It would be shocking if none of his many backstabbers squealed to Bob while holding office. Bet he misses ol' Colin.

gpm म्हणाले...

>>We’re in a different world now, sweetie.

Many have already said it, but Althouse brought out and used the deadly rapier here.

I had the same reaction the other day to her response to Hochul's "[y]ou deserve to feel safe" b/s, but I didn't comment because I was so late to the party (as here).

Althouse en fuego.

>>Let him wear the jacket, as we say in Chicago.

OK, Amadeus, you got me on that one. I don't know anyone in Chicago who's ever said that, and I don't really know what it's supposed to mean. Maybe it's a North Side thing.

--gpm

Saint Croix म्हणाले...

I am continually struck by how similar Trump and his critics are in many ways.

For instance, Trump demonized illegal immigrants as violent criminals, rapists and gang members. The vast majority of illegal immigrants are not rapists or gang members.

Pelosi and the rest of the left have done the exact same thing for anybody who has voted for Trump. They have demonized us as terrorists. This idea that J6 is a day that will live in infamy is absurd, on its face.

They are oblivious to how they are acting. One Republican riot and Pelosi has a dictatorial response. Multiple Democrat riots around the country are dismissed in her mind as nothing. The media feels the same way.

It's bizarre that they are so oblivious to actual reality. I don't think it's a show for them, a facade to get elected. I think Pelosi had an emotional, fearful, old lady reaction to the riot in her city. And I think she's utterly oblivious to all the other old ladies in the USA who hunkered down while race riots were going on.

I think it would help Democrats a great deal to understand that they are no better than Trump. Get that through your thick skulls and you might actually start behaving better as human beings.

And as an aside, illegal immigration is actually a problem. I've noticed that even MSNBC is covering the problem now. The criticism of Trump is almost strictly about his messaging and his campaign tactics.

Democrats are bad on messaging and have an ugly propensity to simply ignore bad things and look the other way. Inflation is bad, they don't see it. Illegal immigration is bad, they don't see it. Crime is bad, they don't see it. Trump identifies a problem to be solved and ramps up the fear to get elected. Democrats identify zero problems to be resolved -- except the elimination of Republicans -- and try to ramp up the fear to get elected.

Ralph L म्हणाले...

As Insty says, worst ruling class ever! Or, since the 1860s.

Robert Cook म्हणाले...

"Why would Trump ever agree to hours of so-called interviewing by Woodward?"

Trump loves to hear himself talk, and he loves even more for others listen to him talk, particularly journalists. If you don't know this fundamental character trait of Trump, you have zero understanding of who he is.