Trump's interview debacle sends a warning for the fall campaign

[brooklynite]

CNN

(CNN)Donald Trump's weak and flailing interview with Jonathan Swan of Axios fired a warning flare about the President's hopes for reelection, if his campaign and White House staff programed to fulfill his yearning for praise are prepared to recognize it.

Trump came across as ill-prepared, narcissistic and far from in control of the coronavirus pandemic. It was a far cry from the image of courageous leadership and energetic, unstinting commitment on behalf of Americans that his aides spend every day trying to sketch.

It is hard to remember an interview in which a sitting President was more unsparingly exposed or seemed so unequal to the magnitude of a crisis that is threatening the American people and is nowhere near ending.

And Trump's sit-down with Swan came about a month and a half before his first presidential debate clash with presumptive Democratic nominee Joe Biden. His struggles offer plenty of fodder for Biden's debate prep team as they plot his strategy and train up their man for what could be the most important moment of the most unusual presidential campaign.

[ProudMNDemocrat]

1. This interview gave Joe Biden plenty of ammunition.

Come debate time. All Joe has to do is go on an offense that obliterates Trump into a pile of orange offal.

[Mike 03]

2. Who else besides Biden should study that interview:

Potential debate moderators. Too often they are ill-equipped or unwilling to challenge Trump's blatant stream of falsehoods.

[lagomorph777]

4. I hate that word "falsehoods." We don't need to be timid like the MSM.

We can go ahead and use the real word, instead of the contorted euphemismistic made-up word.

LIES

[lagomorph777]

3. Biden's debate prep team should bring in Swan as a consultant.

[RKP5637]

5. K&R !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[arthritisR_US]

6. That's a brilliant idea, I truly hope they do this!

[muriel_volestrangler]

8. Very bad idea for him, and seems pointless for them

If it became public knowledge (and it would), it would mark him as a partisan. What he did wasn't unusual in international journalism, or, really, in US journalism either - it's just that mainstream media are afraid to hold presidents - and especially this president, since he's vindictive, narcissistic and thin-skinned - to account. And only mainstream media gets sit-down interviews with a US president (or also nutjob partisans for him, in Trump's case). Most US journalists would be willing to do an interview like that with a lower-level appointee who was screwing up, or a member of congress who was obviously out of their depth. And the debate prep team won't be worrying about keeping access to the president, so they won't have the media hang-up.

[lagomorph777]

11. True

[peggysue2]

7. The interview was probing and thorough revealing Trump

For what he truly is: an a absolute fool, someone who is beyond parody.

Ammunition? Of the nuclear variety.

[Wellstone ruled]

9. CNN is not going to use the word "Lie"

when they speak of Trump. Their CEO Zucker helped create the Reality TV think known as Trump. Notice how once Andy Lack was fired by Comcast,the word Lie is now being used daily in their Programming.

[lindysalsagal]

10. This year, the fall campaign is already underway. September will be too late: Ballots are already

arriving in september. There is nothing to be gained from the usual october chess games.