Trump showed up to a coronavirus task force meeting and announced that he wanted to start his own White House talk radio show in the middle of a pandemic.
On a Saturday in early March, Donald J. Trump, clad in a baseball cap, strode into the Situation Room for a meeting with the coronavirus task force. He didn’t stop by the group’s daily meetings often, but he had an idea he was eager to share: He wanted to start a White House talk radio show.
At the time, the virus was rapidly spreading across the country, and Mr. Trump would soon announce a ban on European travel. A talk radio show, Mr. Trump excitedly explained, would allow him to quell Americans’ fears and answer their questions about the pandemic directly, according to three White House officials who heard the pitch. There would be no screening, he said, just an open line for people to call and engage one-on-one with the president.
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Trump wanted to spend two working hours a day, every weekday of his presidency, hosting a talk radio show. Trump-backed off of the idea, because he didn’t want to compete with Rush Limbaugh and refused to do his show on evenings or weekends.
Hundreds of thousands of Americans are sick. Tens of thousands of people are dead, with thousands more dying each day, and Donald Trump’s big idea to deal with a public health crisis is a talk show. Trump’s working schedule is only a few hours a day, and he spends two of those hours on television at coronavirus briefings that have turned into propaganda rallies.
Trump isn’t interested in keeping the American people safe. He is all about optics and his reelection campaign.
Donald Trump is a president who is literally all talk and no action.
Jason is the managing editor. He is also a White House Press Pool and a Congressional correspondent for PoliticusUSA. Jason has a Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science. His graduate work focused on public policy, with a specialization in social reform movements.
Awards and Professional Memberships
Member of the Society of Professional Journalists and The American Political Science Association
