Opinion - Trump dodged more than a bullet at Saturday’s correspondents’ dinner
I’m no fan of President Trump — never was and almost certainly never will be — but his performance at his press conference last Saturday night, shortly after the latest assassination attempt on him, was masterful.
Our president met the moment demonstrating, at least for a minute or so, two characteristics I have rarely detected in him — grace and dignity.
What he could have done, if only because he ordinarily does it, is lash out at his would-be assassin as a left-wing lunatic — perhaps hired as a contract killer by Democrats or CNN or Hillary Clinton personally. He could have taken a page from his usual political playbook and gone tribal, unleashing his patented brand of outlandishly outraged vitriol at all of his usual suspects.
Instead, Trump touched briefly on a theme that speaks volumes to all of us: unity.
“In light of this event,” he said, “I ask that all Americans recommit to resolving our differences peacefully.”
He went on to praise the elected officials and journalists at the White House Correspondents’ Association dinner — whether Democrat, Republican, independent, conservative or liberal — for “coming together” as Secret Service agents spirited him away from danger.
It actually seemed heartfelt — if only because I so wanted it to be.
Trump, thanks to this scary episode, in a sense caught a break. By any objective standard, his presidency is in its deepest trouble yet. Plummeting approval ratings, the increasingly unpopular war against Iran, skyrocketing fuel prices, his utterly gratuitous feud with Pope Leo — all these forces are now converging into a critical mass.
Before Saturday night, Trump was really up against it, even more divisive and polarizing than ever, a genius at stirring up partisan rancor. And make no mistake: He’s still very much up against it. But this third attempt on his life might buy him a little time, not to mention sympathy and support.
So might his performance at the press conference right afterward. As it turned out, he dodged more than one bullet over the weekend.
Was Trump’s overall performance perfect? Far from it. Once he had expressed his justifiable gratitude to law enforcement for potentially saving his life, he almost immediately lapsed, true to form, into his usual shtick.
He touted some of his accomplishments over the last year, briefly explaining his rationale for going after Iran — a move totally out of sync with the occasion. Worse, he digressed into how he felt “almost honored” because of his belief that assassins only go after presidents, such as Lincoln, who are worth the effort to kill. A misstep, to be sure, and also just silly.
I observed the press conference, as I reflexively do almost everything else in my life, as a public-relations adviser. Over the last 35 years, I have counseled clients ranging from Fortune 500 CEOs, Hollywood celebrities and superstar athletes to elected officials, the heads of federal agencies and a billionaire investment guru.
If I had had my druthers, and if the president were my client — by no means high on my wish list — I would have urged him to hit the unity theme harder. He could have elaborated on why we should “resolve our differences peacefully,” and also offer insight into just how we could go about doing it.
In short, Trump could have done what the best of our presidents do: bring us together in a crisis. Within the last century, Franklin Roosevelt remains the gold standard in this regard. Please do that more, I would have told Trump — more emphatically, more frequently.
But at least he gave us a moment there — a glimpse of who he could be if he acted on the better angels of his nature. For that moment, Trump crossed party lines and transcended the violence targeting him. He was finally, improbably, truly presidential.
Bob Brody is a public-relations consultant, essayist and author of the memoir “Playing Catch with Strangers: A Family Guy (Reluctantly) Comes of Age.” He served as a media strategist and editorial specialist at global communications agencies, including Powell Tate, the public affairs division of Weber Shandwick in Washington.
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