How I would have handled Trump at his little game

[AndJusticeForSome]

1) Adopt his aggressive use of "Excuse me. Excuse me!" (which, btw, he'll be saying incessantly soon enough) to regain and retain control of the conversation.

2) Every single time he says he needs money for the wall, I'd interject "Then get Mexico to pay for it like you promised" and keep repeating that. Make it the only response to any comment he makes about Wall funding. Like a broken record.

3) Every time he said immigrants were bringing diseases, I'd say "So let's improve our public health and increase access to health care."

4) Every time he said immigrants we're bringing drugs, I'd say, loudly "No, most drugs enter through other ways."

5) Every time he claimed a wall is needed to stop terrorists, I'd say "9/11" and "So, is a Canadian border wall next?"

But mostly, I'd be using 1) and 2).

"Excuse me. Excuse me! Get Mexico to pay for the wall." Over, and over, and over.

[EffieBlack]

1. Fortunately, Pelosi and Schumer handled it their way ...

[ooky]

6. Thanks.

[DetlefK]

2. Don't wrestle a pig in the mud. You both get dirty, but the pig likes it.

Schumer and Pelosi did the right thing: Contrasting Trump's petulancy with the behavior of adults.

[AndJusticeForSome]

18. I get that. I'm not sure that opposing lies is actually wrestling though

I didn't advocate fist thumping or foot stomping or finger jabbing or name calling. It's odd to me how many in this thread take objection to what, to me, is perfectly rational debate strategy.

Every conversation with Trump will be a debate. I don't see a problem with handling them as such.

[bearsfootball516]

3. I don't think that would have gone well or looked good for you.

Nancy and Chuck handled it very well.

[WhiskeyGrinder]

4. Right, but you have to be speaker of the house first. That's the hard part.

[SunSeeker]

5. Lawrence O'Donnell said they should have brought up his promise to make Mexico pay for it.

They handled the meeting well otherwise.

[EffieBlack]

9. I usually agree with Lawrence, but think he's wrong on this

If they had brought that up, he would have just lied and they would have had to either let the lie stand or end up chasing him down his rabbit hole arguing about Mexico.

And it’s not like no one knows that he promised to make Mexico pay for the wall. Everyone knows it so the more he demanded Dems vote him billions of dollars for the wall, the more ridiculous he looked. There will be plenty more opportunities for people to rub that in the Republicans’ faces - they didn’t need to make an issue of it right at that moment.

Folk need to stop demanding Democrats produce a Perry Mason moment. That’s not how things really work.

[politicaljunkie41910]

21. I don't think it's a "Perry Mason moment" by reminding him that for 2 years he told the country that

Mexico was going to pay for "HIS" wall. Reminding his base of what a liar he is may be therapeutic for some of us.

Also, in response to his claims about immigrants bringing diseases to this country, I would ask him just what diseases did Melania bring to this country? What about her parents, and her sister, all of whom BTW received US citizenship in record time? What diseases did they bring to this country?

[EffieBlack]

24. That may be what YOU would do

But I’m glad the Democratic leaders representing us use better judgment.

[MineralMan]

7. There's a reason Pelosi and Schumer are where they are.

It is partly because they don't do things like that. What you or I might do is not necessarily the most effective thing to do. We don't have to deal with Congress, for one thing. We can just say whatever we want without worrying about the effects of what we say.

As it turned out, Schumer and Pelosi did very, very well in their unexpected public appearance. They went there thinking it was a private meeting, only to find out they were going to be on national television. They changed gears and handled it all very, very well, as is clear from the reactions to the meeting.

Just saying...

[EffieBlack]

11. Yup

[FakeNoose]

8. All Cheeto really wants is the face time on TV

He knows there will never be a wall on the Mexican border, and he really doesn't care anyway.
The free TV time is all he cares about. So the best way to foil him is to refuse to play long, don't take the bait.
When you have to engage at all, be prepared with real facts and figures, and Cheeto has no answer.
He gets owned every time.

I thought Nancy and Chuck were brilliant yesterday.

[dmr]

22. Yes! He doesn't care about the wall. TV face time was all he wanted.

The meeting was a ruse.

Pelosi and Schumer were special guests on his afternoon reality show.

He spiced the show up with his demand for a border wall. He figured he'd create exciting drama by embarrassing those two loathsome Dems from Congress.

It didn't work out as planned in his mind. He was the one who got excited, and along with Flat Pence, they were the embarrassing asses.

[elocs]

10. How would you have handled Trump if you had to do it as it happened,

and not have time after it was over to consider what you would say?

[AndJusticeForSome]

13. These were my thoughts as it was happening

Internally, I was yelling at the screen. Really.

[elocs]

23. Good for you then, it usually works the other way around for most of us. n/t

[AndJusticeForSome]

25. It usually does for me, too. This was an exception.

I never said I didn't thoroughly enjoy seeing how they skillfully ping-ponged Trump, just that I would have added a few touches. Seems people are taking it as some massive criticism of Pelosi and Schumer, which it isn't.

I am no diplomat, to be sure.

[FreepFryer]

12. Who asked? (n/t)

[AndJusticeForSome]

14. Snark much? Why? nt

[FreepFryer]

15. Your post begged the question. (n/t)

[AndJusticeForSome]

16. You mean, my post was begging for your reply? nt

[FreepFryer]

20. I try to consider the source, and the context, whenever I receive unsolicited bad advice. (n/t)

[frogmarch]

17. Every time he bragged about

how great the wall was looking so far, I'd say, as Ali Velshi did when he filled in last night for Chris Hayes, that not even one inch of the wall has been built, and all that's there are fences, the same as there were during the Dubya and Obama presidencies.

[AndJusticeForSome]

19. That too. nt

[gratuitous]

26. Pelosi did throw a couple of his comments back in his face

Pelosi told Trump the votes he wanted weren't there in the House for his stupid wall. Pelosi, a consummate vote counter, knew what she was talking about. Trump, who doesn't yet quite grasp the notion of the separation of powers laid out in the Constitution, tried to tell Pelosi that he could get a favorable vote in the House. Pelosi just said, in effect, "Okay then, put it to a vote if you think your bill will pass." That was, I'm sure, one of the topics she had in mind when she talked to the press afterwards about Trump not knowing what he was talking about.

Trump was momentarily baffled by someone calling him out. It was delicious to watch.

[AndJusticeForSome]

27. Yes, she certainly did

Honestly, I had to read the CC text for much of what she said, with him talking over her constantly.

It was delicious.

[Grasswire2]

28. Trump got what he wanted. Video clips of him fighting for his wall.

His base is never going to conclude that Nancy-Chuck got the best of him.

They only see him gesticulating and blowing steam and fighting for his wall.

I don't see how Dems are portraying this as anything else.

[AndJusticeForSome]

30. Then I hope clips of him doing that are deftly juxtaposed with

clips of him promising that Mexico will pay for it, in future campaign ads.

[Claritie Pixie]

29. No.

You can't use an idiot's tactics against him. I have no criticism of how Pelosi and Schumer handled the situation; they were blindsided and frustrated him until he said he'd be 'proud' to shut down the government. THAT is how it's done.

[AndJusticeForSome]

31. To be fair, I doubt they knew he would do that

(paint himself into that corner).

At minimum, I hope they learned that it wasn't a mistake to do this publically, and hope to see many future episodes.

I think most of us enjoyed watching it, notwithstanding any comments we make that may be misconstrued as vehement criticism.