The morning after Donald Trump coupled his public Roy Moore endorsement with yet another series of attacks against the news media, the New York Times published a look into the controversial president’s latest series of battles. Chief among the highlights are a few nuggets about Trump’s daily routine, which — as most news writers and Twitter users are all too familiar — begins with a heavy dose of television and social media. “Energized, infuriated — often a gumbo of both — Mr. Trump grabs his iPhone,” notes the report. “Sometimes he tweets while propped on his pillow, according to aides.”
Yet the most revealing (though unsurprising) aspect of the story comes a few paragraphs later when the Times indicates just how much time the president is apparently spending glued to the television set:
Before taking office, Mr. Trump told top aides to think of each presidential day as an episode in a television show in which he vanquishes rivals. People close to him estimate that Mr. Trump spends at least four hours a day, and sometimes as much as twice that, in front of a television, sometimes with the volume muted, marinating in the no-holds-barred wars of cable news and eager to fire back.
In other words, the very same man who previously claimed he “[had] very little time for watching” TV while defending his White House against reports of “total chaos” over the summer actually makes the time to watch a lot of TV. What’s more, the former reality programming star apparently treats the presidency — and politics in general — as yet another iteration of his former Celebrity Apprentice series. It seems Sen. Bob Corker wasn’t that far off the mark when he described the Trump administration similarly back in October.
The W.H. is functioning perfectly, focused on HealthCare, Tax Cuts/Reform & many other things. I have very little time for watching T.V.
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 12, 2017
(Via New York Times)