- Nov 2, 2017
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The Strange Cocoon of Trump and Hannity, Two Friends Who Like to Talk Before Bed
Trump's #1 advisor? This is a brief quote..the article is long:
With the hope of calming him down, thenâchief of staff Reince Priebus and thenâpress secretary Sean Spicer began a subtle campaign. âIt got to the point that they were just like, âWe need to get him off these channels and onto Fox & Friends or else weâre going to be chasing down this crazy-train bullshit from MSNBC and CNN all day,ââ â one former White House official said.
Like all other ideas, this had the highest chance of implementation if Trump believed heâd thought of it on his own. Priebus and Spicer worked talking points about the networkâs high ratings and importance to his base of supporters into conversation until, eventually, it stuck, so that the presidentâs television consumption is today what the current White House official called âmainly a complete dosage of Fox.â The former official added, âTrumpâs someone who loves praise more than he likes hate-watching Morning Joe.â
"But the current official acknowledged that it has created a different set of problems: âSometimes on Fox, a lot of stories are embellished, and they donât necessarily cover the big news stories of the day. When they cover the smaller stories, if that gets the president riled up, then that becomes an issue. Whenever he tweets, all of us do a mad dash or mad scramble to find out as much information about that random topic as possible. Weâre used to it in a lot of ways, so itâs part of our morning routine.â
More than most politicians, Trump abides by the Groucho Marx law of fraternization. He inherently distrusts anyone who chooses to work for him, seeking outside affirmation as often as possible from as vast and varied a group as he can muster â but Hannity is at the center. âGenerally, the feeling is that Sean is the leader of the outside kitchen cabinet,â one White House official said, echoing other staffers (current and removed). I was told by one person that Hannity âfills the political voidâ left by Steve Bannon, a statement Bannon seemed to agree with: âSean Hannity understands the basic issues of economic nationalism and âAmerica Firstâ foreign policy at a deeper level than the august staff of Jonathan Chait and the fuckinâ clowns at New York Magazine,â he said. The White House official assessed the influence of White House officials and other administration personnel as exactly equal to that of Fox News."
Trump's #1 advisor? This is a brief quote..the article is long:
With the hope of calming him down, thenâchief of staff Reince Priebus and thenâpress secretary Sean Spicer began a subtle campaign. âIt got to the point that they were just like, âWe need to get him off these channels and onto Fox & Friends or else weâre going to be chasing down this crazy-train bullshit from MSNBC and CNN all day,ââ â one former White House official said.
Like all other ideas, this had the highest chance of implementation if Trump believed heâd thought of it on his own. Priebus and Spicer worked talking points about the networkâs high ratings and importance to his base of supporters into conversation until, eventually, it stuck, so that the presidentâs television consumption is today what the current White House official called âmainly a complete dosage of Fox.â The former official added, âTrumpâs someone who loves praise more than he likes hate-watching Morning Joe.â
"But the current official acknowledged that it has created a different set of problems: âSometimes on Fox, a lot of stories are embellished, and they donât necessarily cover the big news stories of the day. When they cover the smaller stories, if that gets the president riled up, then that becomes an issue. Whenever he tweets, all of us do a mad dash or mad scramble to find out as much information about that random topic as possible. Weâre used to it in a lot of ways, so itâs part of our morning routine.â
More than most politicians, Trump abides by the Groucho Marx law of fraternization. He inherently distrusts anyone who chooses to work for him, seeking outside affirmation as often as possible from as vast and varied a group as he can muster â but Hannity is at the center. âGenerally, the feeling is that Sean is the leader of the outside kitchen cabinet,â one White House official said, echoing other staffers (current and removed). I was told by one person that Hannity âfills the political voidâ left by Steve Bannon, a statement Bannon seemed to agree with: âSean Hannity understands the basic issues of economic nationalism and âAmerica Firstâ foreign policy at a deeper level than the august staff of Jonathan Chait and the fuckinâ clowns at New York Magazine,â he said. The White House official assessed the influence of White House officials and other administration personnel as exactly equal to that of Fox News."