Trump's "Press Conference"

I got an email saying that Trump was going to have a press conference at 2 pm. Since I have time on my hands due to a 14-day quarantine after arriving in Maine, I decided to have a look. I've heard about Trump's press conferences, but I'd never seen one. I was looking forward to it, especially his off-the-cuff remarks.

I turned the TV on at 2 pm, May 29. There, seated on the White House lawn on folding chairs about six feet apart and wearing masks were the reporters. I waited. They waited. Many men had slung their suit jackets over the back of their chairs. And we waited. I was wondering how they were doing under a full sun. The women among them who had bear arms, shoulders and legs must have thought about bringing sun bloc in addition to their water bottles. Along about 2:40 pm, the men started putting on their suit jackets. Were they getting ready to leave or was the big man about to arrive?

It was Trump making the scene about three-quarters of an hour late. Had the affairs of state held him up? He started to read from the teleprompters in typical Trump monotone, canting his head a little right and then a little left. It was about how bad China was in regard to 1) the coronvirus, and 2) Hong Kong [and on that I tend to agree with him]. So, we will henceforth disfavor Hang Kong and just for good measure we will leave the World Health Organization and do something else with the $450 million dollars.

After 15 minutes of talk, Trump turned and left. No mention of 100,000+ coronavirus deaths. No mention of cities in fire following the death of George Floyd under a policeman's boot. No questions. No extemporaneous remarks. But at least the staff kept him on message. The reporters could have stayed home and watched the speech on television as I did. It would have saved a lot of their time and possibly sunburn. I found the performance and it's delay an insult to the press and the American people.


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