A sophisticated presidential communicator was once a figure we held in high regard, exemplified by those like Bill Moyers, press secretary for President Lyndon Johnson, and James Hagerty, the efficient mouthpiece for President Dwight Eisenhower. These individuals, recognized for their discretion, tact and, to some extent, honesty, established standards by which later press secretaries are evaluated. The late Allison Janney’s character, C.J. Cregg, in ‘The West Wing,’ serving as the press secretary and later the chief of staff for the (fictional) President Jed Bartlet, was a little hat-tip to this honorable chain of command. However, President Donald Trump’s confidants seem to defy these traditional norms and values we expect of communicators, demonstrating reckless, insolent, raw, and deceitful tendencies instead.
Instead of treating the media with respect, these communicators often express derogatory sentiments toward any journalist daring to ask poignant questions. An array of the President’s frontline communicators exhibits this uncanny approach. Rather than contributing to a broader perspective or engaging in meaningful dialogue, they are known to spin facts and employ offensive rhetoric to suppress conversation. Here are a few instances illustrating the statements of three of President Trump’s chief communicators.
Karoline Leavitt, the youngest person to assume the role of White House press secretary, perplexingly insinuated that Jill Biden was misguiding the American public about President Joe Biden’s intellectual faculties. Moving from implicit doubt to direct verbal attack, she even suggested that former First Lady Jill Biden should be brought before a Republican-led congressional inquiry. Later, on a podcast, Ms. Leavitt went as far as to label Joe Biden ‘a brain-dead president’, a comment uncalled for and disrespectful.
Sean Parnell, another one of Trump’s high-ranking spokespersons, demonstrated a rather belligerent stance towards particular media. In March, he dismissed a New York Times report as wholly false. Following this, a responded aggressively to a CNN report in July, calling their story entirely fabricated, a stance he maintained even after Trump himself expressed his lack of familiarity with the issue presented at a cabinet meeting, answering a question on who ordered a certain action with ‘I don’t know. Why don’t you tell me?’
Steven Cheung, as another example, took issue with an inquiry from the Daily Beast’s chief content officer, Joanna Coles. In April, she asked about Trump’s evident weight loss, a question that Cheung found inappropriate and instead launched an unnecessary attack. In yet another instance, Cheung lambasted HuffPost reporter S.V. Date for questioning why most of Trump’s public remarks were not posted on the White House website.
Reality appears to be a concept that Cheung conveniently glosses over; a prime example of this is when he made a wildly exaggerated claim on Twitter about the turnout at the 250th anniversary of the U.S. Army. He declared that ‘over 250,000 patriots’ attended the event, a figure that was easily refuted by photographic evidence. The photographs showed vast spaces devoid of attendees, and Time magazine’s coverage described the crowd as only being in the tens of thousands.
In an audacious display of denial, Cheung dismissed protests that had an infinitely larger turnout on the same day. The ‘No Kings’ demonstrations, held across more than 2100 cities and towns nationwide, amassed a staggering 4 to 6 million participants. Disregarding these facts, Cheung referred to these protests as ‘a failure with minuscule attendance’, adding to his record of spread misinformation for which he seemingly receives his paychecks.
Presidential communicators are traditionally expected to be dignified, tactful, and truthful. Though presidential history sparkles with many such individuals who have upheld the dignity of their office, President Donald Trump’s communicators reflect a significant departure from this norm. They frequently exhibit a condescending demeanor and a quickness to lash out at tough questions. Additionally, these communicators show an affinity for grotesque exaggerations and downright disregard for facts, as is evident from the misinformative declarations made by Leavitt, Parnell, and Cheung.
Leavitt’s audacious claims about Jill Biden’s dishonesty regarding President Biden’s mental state serve as a glaring example. Attempting to drive a narrative of incompetence and lies against the opposition, she makes baseless allegations and even proposes an investigative inquiry into Jill Biden’s ostensibly deceitful claims.
Then there is Sean Parnell, Trump’s chief Pentagon spokesperson, who routinely labels any undesirable media report as false. His pattern of discrediting media stories as total fabrications was particularly demonstrated when he dismissed a CNN report, even after President Trump himself professed ignorance about the covered issue.
Completing the trio is Steven Cheung, notorious for his aggressive responses to media inquiries. He has a tendency to launch unwarranted attacks on journalists who pose questions he finds irritating. Adding to his list of missteps, he leads the race in the spread of misinformation, including a flagrant overestimation of event attendance.
Whether denouncing opposition claims or overstating attendance at events, these top-ranking communicators for Trump show a disdain for truthfulness. They distort facts to their advantage, painting a narrative that suits their objectives. Their actions have marred traditional standards maintained by presidential spokespersons and have brought unprecedented negativity to these roles.
It is a concern that these individuals, custodians of information from the highest office in the country, opt for obfuscation over honesty. By sidestepping truth and perpetuating half-truths and lies, they undermine the significance and respect attached to their positions, ultimately doing a disservice to the American public.
When observations are made about the likes of Leavitt, Parnell, and Cheung, one is reminded, and not favorably, of how much presidential communication has evolved, or perhaps, devolved. The grace, composure, and dignity exuded by communicators of the past seems to have made way for an era of communicators who not only disregard established norms but purposefully devalue them for perceived short-term gains.
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