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Would removing Trump's live coronavirus briefings make him worse?

By Clarence Page, Tribune Content Agency on

Worse, you never know when this president is going to respond to reporters' questions with unreliable information or explode into a tirade against "fake news" -- which still, as ever, tends to be any news that he doesn't like.

On Sunday, for example, he barked at PBS "NewsHour" reporter Yamiche Alcindor after she questioned a claim he had made to Sean Hannity on Fox News that governors don't really need all of the equipment they were requesting to fight the pandemic.

First, he tried repeatedly to deny saying that, although he had said it.

"I don't believe you need 40,000 or 30,000 ventilators," the president told Hannity. "You go into major hospitals sometimes, and they'll have two ventilators. And now, all of a sudden, they're saying, 'Can we order 30,000 ventilators?' "

But with Alcindor the president shifted into a tirade against "you people," you blankety-blank reporters, and a lecture on being "nice." "Be nice," he said with maximum condescension and shushing. "Don't be threatening. Be nice."

You can see in the exchange a Spartacus-like move by CNN reporter Jeremy Diamond, who handed the microphone back to Alcindor so she could ask a second question that the president had interrupted.

Since Alcindor also is a black woman, the admonition to "Be nice" and "Don't be threatening" carries a history and message fraught with insult. But white guys get the Trump-dump treatment too.

After ABC's Jonathan Karl asked twice whether every state and hospital that needs a ventilator will get one, the president responded as if he'd been insulted. "Look, don't be a cutie pie. OK?" Trump said. "Nobody's ever done what we've done. Nobody's done anything like we've been able to do."

 

When NBC's Peter Alexander recently asked whether the president's attempts to put a positive spin on things might be giving people a false impression, Trump exploded, "You're a terrible reporter," and "That's a nasty question" when the American people are looking for hope.

"Nasty" question? We have a couple of old sayings in journalism that sound appropriate here.

One is that a failure to ask questions isn't journalism, it's stenography.

The other is that there are no "stupid questions," but there are plenty of stupid answers.

As a public service, I think broadcasters should reserve the right to broadcast the president live or on tape. Ultimately, as our ratings-conscious president knows, it is best to have you, the audience, decide where you think you are being served best -- and, in my experience, you have not been shy about letting us know.

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(E-mail Clarence Page at cpage@chicagotribune.com.)


(c) 2020 CLARENCE PAGE DISTRIBUTED BY TRIBUNE MEDIA SERVICES, INC.

 

 

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