This is like The Purloined Letter, nobody can see it because it’s out in plain view. It’s a forest for the trees kind of thing. Today, as you’ve heard, Donald Trump canceled his Thursday press conference at Mar-a-Lago. Many people, myself included, have pondered the reason why.
But none of us came up with this, and this is drop dead obvious.
Among other things, several advisors – formal and informal – told him the press conference was a mistake and/but it was becoming clear he wasn't likely to get the live TV coverage he was hoping for.
— Maggie Haberman (@maggieNYT) January 4, 2022
I feel like hitting myself in the face with a wet towel.
Of COURSE that’s the only reason! Here we are playing around with maybe he considered the bad optics, maybe he scheduled the presser on an impulse and later regretted it, maybe his bone spurs started acting up, maybe this maybe that. But NO! This is Trump we’re talking about and if he wasn’t going to get covered on TV, that’s it. The deal is broken. He’s doing this for attention, he wants lights, cameras, action.
You should ask Liz Harrington for a job. This is the kind of thinking Trump needs. ?
— Ursula Faw (@ursulafaw56) January 5, 2022
By George, this woman got it. That’s allll Trump wants, is the media attention. I’ll bet he’ll kick himself when he realizes he could have held it in Philly at the Four Seasons Landscaping and the entire planet would have sent reporters to that one. Maybe meda outlets on other planets as well, that would be such a howler. Damn. Foiled again. Where is Rudy when you need him? Hmm?
Now reports are filtering in from other media sources giving divergent opinion, but I think Maggie Haberman nailed it. Axios:
Before Donald Trump canceled his planned Jan. 6 press conference, several key allies — including hardline Fox News host Laura Ingraham and Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) — made clear they thought it was a bad idea to invite the national media to Mar-a-Lago to mark the deadly riot, Axios’ Jonathan Swan reports.
Why it matters:Â Trump would have inevitably used his press conference Thursday to portray the rioters as political prisoners, whitewash their actions that day and lie about a “stolen election.”
Behind the scenes:Â Graham, a frequent phone and golfing buddy of the former president, was one of those who urged him to cancel the press conference.
-
Graham confirmed this to Axios during a phone interview tonight, saying he discussed the subject with Trump over a weekend golf match in West Palm Beach.
-
Graham said Trump brought up the subject and the senator told him “there could be peril in doing a news conference. … Best to focus on election reform instead.”
Graham Cracker talked him out of it. I don’t think Graham Cracker predicting “peril” would even get Trump’s attention, let alone influence his actions. I think Trump flat our realized he’d be talking to Right Side Broadcasting, OAN, Newsmax and not even Fox News would be there. That’s why he pulled the plug. Period, end of discussion.
I don’t blame Axios for looking for a rational reason for things, that’s what they do, but Occam’s Razor wins the day today.
His narcissism will always get him.
It’s not narcissism, it’s great instinctive wisdom gleaned over the years!
I realized this the moment I saw the first story about watchdog agencies appealing to networks NOT cover the Dumpf’s whinefest. Maybe FAUX and that other abortion of the right might have been there, but no wider audience than he already had. And so, after that first story, I knew it was just a matter of time. But having been all too aware of the Dumpf since he first came on the more public scene in the late70s, not a damned thing about him surprises me.