CBS’s 60 Minutes aired an interview with President Trump on Sunday night — a rare media appearance outside of Fox News or conservative media.
The interview was aired the same weekend as First Lady Melania Trump’s appearance on 20/20, and the timing seems to suggest a new level of media blitzing on the part of the Trump administration, which has already managed a lot of promotion during rallies broadcast on cable news, according to an in-depth analysis by Variety.
Melania Trump had an utterly-on-message, relentlessly forward-moving TV interview. Meanwhile, President Trump’s interview had effectively the same impact as a rally — with a much larger audience.
Variety writes that Trump talked over Lesley Stahl, essentially bulldozing his chief enemy (the media), while also airing his own points without a pause. It is a reminder of how media-savvy the president is, as well as how that plays into his refusal to abide by typical rules of engagement.
During the interview, Trump won every argument, writes Variety, because he was utterly unable to brook doubt. Many of Stahl’s questions seemed based on the idea that Trump could be brought to more thoughtful responses through earnest questioning that treaded somewhat lightly.
But Trump was unwilling to play along and Stahl never adjusted with harder questions.
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