“Enough!” President Trump admonished CNN’s Kaitlan Collins as she pressed for answers during Monday’s contentious coronavirus briefing. With daily feuding between Trump and media boiling over, stressed Americans should be forgiven if they, too, have had enough.
The president clearly relishes the briefings and the opportunity they provide for him to communicate directly with an audience eager for answers. Many, including Wall Street Journal editorial writers, have criticized the choreography, with its lengthy monologues about the administration’s accomplishments. Then came Monday. The president doubled down, as pundits would put it, by running a campaign-style video produced by White House staff, designed to defend Trump’s handling of the crisis.
It was bad theater, and bad form. Worse, it was the type of thing that can’t possibly help the president achieve any of his goals: ending the pandemic, restoring the economy and winning re-election.
