Pandemic ‘briefings’ deteriorated into campaigning

Bill Knight column for 5-4, 5 or 6, 2020

President Trump on April 26 said he might cancel daily pandemic briefings because they weren’t “worth the time,” then he returned the next day anyway, continuing to campaign for his reelection through arrogance, exaggerations and lies.

Sixteen years before Jonathan Swift published “Gulliver’s Travels,” the essayist and clergyman wrote, “Falsehood flies, and the truth comes limping after it.”

For weeks, the world’s been awash in nonstop nonsense from an emotional Lilliputian who sees himself as a giant Brobdingnagian with skills as enormous as his ego. Exploiting the crisis, Trump uses his appearances as substitutes for campaign rallies instead of sharing statistics, reports of medical research, suggestions on staying safe, and challenges that remain – and how the government he leads will help overcome them.

Thankfully, fewer networks carry the complete performances live, though they’re monitored for any news that may occur. Why? Trump spent months denying the crisis or worse, once saying, “We’ve never closed down the country for the flu.” Trump had gone a year without any news briefings, preferring rallies he controlled – without questions. Without questioning to clarify assertions, media attention merely spoon-feeds claims by the powerful. That’s stenography, not journalism.

His afternoon acts are different than briefings by Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker or New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, and the distinction isn’t political, it’s substance. That’s the way it should be. Trump’s daily shows are reminiscent of a former editor who, after I alerted him to a state representative’s local appearance, said not to go because “he’s a lawmaker who’d go to the opening of an envelope.”

Since Trump’s inauguration, he’s publicly lied more than 16,000 times, according to fact-checkers. That’s worse than habitual liar Richard Nixon, who finally resigned in disgrace.  One of Nixon’s “enemies,” Morton Halperin, said that Trump is “far worse than Nixon, certainly as a threat to the country.”

Concerning the pandemic, Trump’s lied about the availability of tests and safety gear, promoted unproven treatments such as using hydroxychloroquine, or injecting disinfectants or light, falsely accused hospitals of hoarding ventilators, claimed massive thefts of supplies without proof, attacked reporters, avoided responsibility, and sought to scapegoat everyone from China to Barack Obama.

Despite often-obvious lying and hyperbole, coverage can legitimize such drivel. Repeating falsehoods amplifies them and empowers liars.

Of course, it makes some sense to show Trump in toto and let everyone see him and sort out the baloney from the reality (plus diplomatic corrections by scientists walking on eggshells).

Still, the litany of lies can exhaust and overwhelm the most civic-minded citizen, as Michiko Kakutani wrote in “The Death of Truth: Notes on Falsehood in the Age of Trump,” and we’re tempted to surrender to “outrage fatigue” and become numb.

Americans stuck at home – literally a captive audience – are worried about health risks and seek news, not misinformation, disinformation and blather. Pathetically, Trump equates the public’s thirst for news with his popularity (which is still less than half the country).

Of course, lies can be effective. A dishonest story reaches 1,500 people six times faster than a factual story, according to a 2018 study in Science magazine. As Roman historian Tacitus wrote, “Truth is confirmed by inspection and delay, falsehood by haste and uncertainty.”

It’s not censorship to use judgment and limit coverage to newsworthy and verifiable moments instead of every second of the show – never clearer than his two-and-a-half-hour tantrum April 13. Media should give worried Americans facts and science, and more prominently feature doctors and nurses, mayors and governors, families and neighbors of the stricken.

If not, is it about ratings? Then relegate the briefings to a web site, like an online-only C-SPAN or shopping network. After all, using media attention as an uncritical bullhorn means Fox or whomever care less about helping people understand what’s happening and more about boosting ad revenue. Are they journalists or entertainers?

Lastly, people desire reassurance or a sense of national unity. Instead, he brags about his audience size, akin to a prison cook boasting about the cuisine. Unlike FDR’s radio “fireside chats” in the 1930s and ’40s, Trump’s briefings don’t unify. Listeners hear what they want to – falsehoods or inspiration.

Unfortunately, as the late French American poet Anais Nin wrote, “We don’t see things as they are; we see them as we are.”