The Point: Teleprompter Trump vs. Twitter Trump


June 7, 2019  | by Chris Cillizza and Lauren Dezenski

Teleprompter Trump vs. Twitter Trump

There are two Donald Trumps: Teleprompter Trump and Twitter Trump.

Teleprompter Trump reads his remarks as written, avoids ad hominem attacks and plays nicely with others. Twitter Trump lashes out at perceived enemies, careens wildly between competing messages and embraces chaos as a strategy.  

(Nota bene: Teleprompter Trump isn't only when Trump is reading from a teleprompter. Just like Twitter Trump emerges much more often than just when the President is tweeting his thoughts and opinions.)

That dichotomy was on abundant display this week as Trump spent time in England, France and Ireland -- culminating with a stop at Normandy to commemorate the 75th anniversary of D-Day.

Teleprompter Trump delivered a solid -- and well-received -- address honoring those who lost their lives in a battle that turned the tide of World War II. Twitter Trump filmed an interview with Fox News Channel personality Laura Ingraham -- just before delivering his formal remarks -- in which he attacked Robert Mueller as a "fool" and said that Speaker Nancy Pelosi is "a nasty, vindictive, horrible person."

After Teleprompter Trump held a news conference and a day of meetings with British Prime Minister Theresa May and other notable pols on Tuesday, Twitter Trump took to, well, Twitter to attack none other than Bette Midler. Tweeteth Trump (at 1:34 a.m. in London, no less!):

"Washed up psycho @BetteMidler was forced to apologize for a statement she attributed to me that turned out to be totally fabricated by her in order to make "your great president" look really bad. She got caught, just like the Fake News Media gets caught. A sick scammer!

(Midler had tweeted -- and then deleted --  a fake quote attributed to Trump about running for President as a Republican.)

The Point: Which version of Trump is closer to his true self? If past is prologue -- and it is -- then Twitter Trump is the real Trump. Yes, Teleprompter Trump can emerge for an hour, a day or even a week. But, in the end, Twitter Trump always wins out.

-- Chris

Below, the week in 20 headlines.

Monday: Tuesday: Wednesday: Thursday: Friday:

QUOTE OF THE DAY

"There are those that say they have never seen the Queen have a better time, a more animated time."

-- President Trump suggesting in a Fox interview from Normandy that the Queen of England has never had a better time than she did hanging out with him.

🚀 LUNAR LETDOWN 🚀

The President has advised NASA (via Twitter) that the agency should "NOT be talking about going to the Moon - We did that 50 years ago."

Trump's tweet upends a long-standing goal in his administration (which he had just tweeted about three weeks prior) to send astronauts to the moon by 2024.

Instead ... "They should be focused on the much bigger things we are doing, including Mars (of which the Moon is a part), Defense and Science!" Trump wrote.

BONUS: Fact check -- what is the moon? The Washington Post investigates.

YANG GANG!

Inside the internet-fueled rise of Andrew Yang

How an internet-savvy political campaign (and that MATH hat?) is turning Andrew Yang into a 2020 contender.

But are you savvy enough to subscribe to The Point on YouTube?

CHRIS' GOOD READS

Donald Trump takes everything personally

Amy Walter suggests swing voters aren't quite dead yet

Meet Maya Harris

An absolutely amazing New York Times project on the players in the Women's World Cup

RIP, Dr. John

MUSICAL INTERLUDE

Calexico and Iron & Wine made an album together!

SHE'S (REPORTEDLY) RUNNING

The Texas Democrat who became famous for an 11-hour fillibuster of the Texas Senate over abortion access (while wearing pink sneakers) appears to be lacing up her shoes for another political run.

Wendy Davis is planning to run for Congress against Republican Rep. Chip Roy, according to NBC affiliate KXAN in Austin. 

Roy made headlines of his own recently when his lone dissent vote delayed the House's passage of a $19 billion disaster relief bill.  

LAUREN'S CAMPAIGN TRAIL SCHEDULER

Coming next week: Between the can't-miss Iowa Democratic Party Hall of Fame Dinner, Pride events and a GOP fundraiser, Iowa is the place to be right now for almost the entire 2020 field -- including Trump himself. 

Saturday, June 8

  • Capital City Pride: A bevy of 2020 candidates are participating in Pride events in Des Moines throughout the day, including Beto O'Rourke, John Hickenlooper, Pete Buttigieg, Cory Booker, Kirsten Gillibrand, Jay Inslee, John Delaney and Bernie Sanders
  • Eric Swalwell: Will be in New Hampshire for the state's Senate Democratic Caucus' End of Session Reception
  • Kamala Harris: Delivers a speech at the South Carolina NCAAP banquet
  • Julián Castro: Will visit Flint, Michigan, to tour a local church and water distribution site
  • Seth Moulton: Delivers the keynote address at the North Carolina Democratic Party 2019 Unity Dinner

Sunday, June 9

  • The Iowa Democratic Party Hall of Fame Dinner: Is drawing 19 of the 23 candidates for president for a dinner toasting the state's most active Democrats (as of Friday). The four not attending? Joe Biden, Julián Castro, Seth Moulton and Wayne Messam.

Monday, June 10

  • Amy Klobuchar: Sits down for New Hampshire's Politics & Eggs forum, kicking off a day in the Granite State

Tuesday, June 11

  • Donald Trump: Visits Iowa to attend a Republican Party fundraiser
  • Joe Biden: Campaigns in Iowa
  • Cory Booker: Is getting a home-state surrogate to stump for him in Iowa: New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy

Friday, June 14

  • Elizabeth Warren: Makes her 11th trip to New Hampshire with Manchester Democratic City Committee's annual Flag Day Dinner

YOUR DAILY GIF

From Brenna: "Ding ding ding, the week is over! Share The Point with someone who, like me, lives for politicians taking tours of random small businesses."
We'd love to share our other newsletters with you. Follow this link for daily coverage of the world's top stories, savvy market insights, an insider's look into the media, and more. Send your tips and thoughts via email to Chris Cillizza and Lauren Dezenski. Follow Chris and Lauren on Twitter.
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