Trump games the media

This post is going up a little late. It's telling that four days after the event is late, but that's another story. I kept getting distracted: Pepe the Frog; Skittles; Trump knew it was a bomb before anyone else did?!

Donald Trump knows how to play the media and last week he beat at their own game…twice.

The first instance was the lead-up to and appearance on Dr. Oz, the later of which has been called “a win”(CNN), a Potemkin physical (The New Yorker), “surreal” and “disquieting” (Vox), and “amazingly strange” (WaPo).

The story gets complicated from here.

1. The campaign announced that Trump would release his medical records.
2. It teased an appearance on Dr. Oz, presumed to share said records.
3. Trump decided not to share.
4. Then, he did.
5. Dr. Oz to gave him a clean bill of health based on two two sheets of paper and no actual examination.

The media breathlessly covered each twist and turn. Trump came out on top, masterfully.

He is playing you guys like a Stradivarius. Dominating news instead of Newsweek story, trump Foundation. Pathetic https://t.co/Avm6AhQZIP

— Norman Ornstein (@NormOrnstein) September 14, 2016

On Friday, the rigmarole began again.

1. Donald Trump said he would make a “big announcement” about his birther claims.
2. The media waited for more than an hour for said announcement, filling the footage of an empty podium with endless commentary.
3. Trump spoke for more than 20 minutes about his hotel and Medal of Honor recipients who endorsed him.
4. He admitted that President Obama was born in the United States.
5. He refused to let reporters accompany him on a press tour of his hotel
6. Press pool reporters were outraged and refused to cover the hotel tour
7. People were upset
   
   “The Media Should Stop Covering Trump” (HuffPo)
   “Trump Punks the Media” (Politico)
   “Trump plays the press…again” (Fox)
   “Trump manipulated the media and lied” (CNBC)
   “We got played” (Washington Post)
   “Donald Trump trolls the media” (Vanity Fair)  
   
   
8. The media continues covering Donald Trump

The guys on Keepin’ it 1600 said it best: The Trump campaign knows how to game the media (not that it’s very hard). “They basically know that if you throw the stick, the dog will go fetch it.”

Every.

Single.

Time.