In a rare moment of direct honesty, Trump answered a question a reporter asked him. Of course, it was in private and off-camera, but Leslie Stahl hadn't signed any NDAs, so luckily for the rest of us, she can reveal details about the conversation in this conversation with Judy Woodruff.
She was to interview him after he won the Republican nomination in 2016, and this was right before the interview. The only people in the room were Stahl, her boss, and Trumpity. For no apparent reason, he begins to attack the press, just like he does at rallies and press conferences.
Stahl pushed back. She told Woodruff that at the time she asked him, "Why are you doing this? It's boring, it's tired, you won the nomination, isn't it time to end it?" She said there were no cameras rolling - it made no sense to her. Then she revealed to Woodruff and the rest of us his response.
Our current inhabitant of the Oval Office told a revered reporter,
"I do it to discredit you all and demean you all so that when you write negative stories about me, no one will believe you."
Well. Those of us with synapses that fire already knew that, but wouldn't a quote like that have been, perhaps, USEFUL at the time??? Might our media have been able to make that information known to the electorate in such a way as to educate them about how small he thought their minds were? Or how willing he was to do away with part of the First Amendment? Is this too little too late?
Maybe not. Hindsight is 20/20. In fact, I think that could be our new slogan for the next presidential election for whoever ends up being his challenger.
"Hindsight is 2020."
Let's make it trend, or whatever. I can see it on bumper stickers and on lawn signs. I see it as a hashthread or a tagtube thing or whatever the kids are doing these days. Anyone who voted third party or for Trump who has regrets can use it to show that they want to make up for it. A way of showing they are trying to redeem themselves. A sign they promise to do better. The Media can use it, too.
