Trump needed a cheat sheet to console school shooting survivors, and you can read it

Of all the dumb things Trump has done, this may be the least dumb. It shows he was preparing for these people.

I can see people not liking his policies, and despising his morals, but I'm not sure what the deal is with having notes prior to a meeting.

Maddog wrote:Of all the dumb things Trump has done, this may be the least dumb. It shows he was preparing for these people.

I can see people not liking his policies, and despising his morals, but I'm not sure what the deal is with having notes prior to a meeting.  

It's common practice for high level interviewees to have a small piece of paper - or better still a piece of card that won't rustle into a nearby microphone - setting out the two (or three at the most) key points he or she wishes to get across, particularly given the tendency of naughty journalists to attempt to lay a trap by suddenly changing tack in order to catch the subject out.

A viewer or audience may not see it, but you can bet your bottom dollar it will be either on the lectern or interview desk out of camera shot.

At a press conference, in particular, it is dangerously easy to face journalists with your key message firmly in the forefront of your mind, only for it to be sidelined by a barrage of questions on other matters, some of which you may not be prepared for or know the answer to.

That's a cue for the standard response... "That's a very important point and I'll come to it presently, but first let me deal with the matter of...." and then go on to say what you intended to get across to your audience in the hope that any follow-up questions will be centred on your main points.

I've been both interviewer and interviewee in my time, and things don't always go to plan of course...there are always the Piers Morgans of this world who seriously believe that the points they wish to raise are more imporant than the topic that the interviewee has been invited to talk about.

And a prompt card, by the way, is no bloody use at all in an outside broadcast - particularly in a gale!

Why is the number 45 printed on his shirt cuff?

I'm sure most people who are speaking publicly have some sort of prompt cards they can refer to....its nice to speak from the heart, but not always possible.

I kinda agree with the others. Broad, general notes on a 3 x 5 card, help you to stay focused.

And if your job is to listen, #5 us most important: allow it to remind you what your job is.

I would’ve thought that speaking from the heart, about an awful atrocity, such as this, wouldn’t need a prompt card.

But then, so many people don’t know how to speak from their heart.

eddie wrote:I would’ve thought that speaking from the heart, about an awful atrocity, such as this, wouldn’t need a prompt card.

But then, so many people don’t know how to speak from their heart.

Speaking from the heart isn't really in the job description of any politician.

eddie wrote:I would’ve thought that speaking from the heart, about an awful atrocity, such as this, wouldn’t need a prompt card.

But then, so many people don’t know how to speak from their heart.

Ordinarily, you would be right, eds. But in this country, this issue is so fraught with controversy, with the president on the other side, that someone wanted to keep him focused. Notice his emphasis throughout has been on mental state. His message is: not bad guns, just bad people.

veya_victaous wrote:

Syl wrote:Why is the number 45 printed on his shirt cuff?

I'm sure most people who are speaking publicly have some sort of prompt cards they can refer to....its nice to speak from the heart, but not always possible.

he's the 45th president

I don't think it was a public address it was the 'interview' with the victims of mass shootings. which is why the note "I hear you" is a bit bad since it does strong imply he is just saying it on script and is not really listening

Thanks for the 45 explanation...I genuinly didnt know.

I agree prompting himself to show empathy is sad....but it is Trump, so its understandable.

I think the idea that you'd have to remember to console survivors of a mass shooting is DEEPLY disturbing. Seriously, all he had to do was be an average human being. It's not the hardest job.

Ben Reilly wrote:I think the idea that you'd have to remember to console survivors of a mass shooting is DEEPLY disturbing. Seriously, all he had to do was be an average human being. It's not the hardest job.

If that's all he's there to do, then yeah, he doesn't need a cheat sheet.

Turn off the cameras and let him console. But if the cameras are rolling, it's a whole different gig..........

This isn't like meeting the families of fallen soldiers at Dover AFB. This was a political event. Maybe it shouldn't have been.

Ben Reilly wrote:I think the idea that you'd have to remember to console survivors of a mass shooting is DEEPLY disturbing. Seriously, all he had to do was be an average human being. It's not the hardest job.

Well...Trump is deeply disturbing, have you forgotten?  And now he's attending the CPAC meetings, schmoozing officials of the NRA.

So, it was a show all along.  Trump likes to live in the moment, as we saw after Charlottesville, so his staff can't trust him keep to the script.  Thus the 3 x 5 card.  Keep in mind that Trump is the crazy, the staff are sane.

Ben Reilly wrote:I think the idea that you'd have to remember to console survivors of a mass shooting is DEEPLY disturbing. Seriously, all he had to do was be an average human being. It's not the hardest job.

Yup.

Original Quill wrote:

Ben Reilly wrote:I think the idea that you'd have to remember to console survivors of a mass shooting is DEEPLY disturbing. Seriously, all he had to do was be an average human being. It's not the hardest job.

Well...Trump is deeply disturbing, have you forgotten?  And now he's attending the CPAC meetings, schmoozing officials of the NRA.

So, it was a show all along.  Trump likes to live in the moment, as we saw after Charlottesville, so his staff can't trust him keep to the script.  Thus the 3 x 5 card.  Keep in mind that Trump is the crazy, the staff are sane.

The staff are sane????? Now you’re the crazy one.

Cass wrote:

Original Quill wrote:

Well...Trump is deeply disturbing, have you forgotten?  And now he's attending the CPAC meetings, schmoozing officials of the NRA.

So, it was a show all along.  Trump likes to live in the moment, as we saw after Charlottesville, so his staff can't trust him keep to the script.  Thus the 3 x 5 card.  Keep in mind that Trump is the crazy, the staff are sane.

The staff are sane????? Now you’re the crazy one.

I've read Fire and Fury. The staff at least are concerned about the appearances.

Better for him to read from a script written by his aides than to ad lib free style. We all know how disatrous his adlibbing can be ... he'd probably come out with something like "See, folks, these campus shooters have many sides, many many sides,  some are good people" 

I think he rehearses his speeches till the last minute, like a nervous actor waiting to go on stage. He was once seen  learning his lines whilst being driven in the back of his car. [I think he's more discrete these days] > >

The RW orchestrates it's responses to these sorts of things. How often do Republicans puppet the same words and phrases...harden out schools; too soon, we're still grieving; it's not the guns, it's the people... They have canned answers, and they get them out right away. Likewise, they have topics that are off-limits.

Trump violates those rules, both ways.