Donald Trump fired back at the media again on Saturday, saying that the public shouldn’t believe any quotes that are purported to come from his campaign. Though he names one media outlet specifically in his rant, the tweets appear to address reporting from many different stories and sources about the Republican nominee.
It’s certainly not the first time someone from Trump’s camp has spoken to the media about his prospects. In March, XOJane published a piece by Stephanie Cegielski, who says she is a former communications director for Trump. She goes on to offer some information about the campaign itself. She calls Trump’s campaign a protest, and says that his camp would have been satisfied to see him poll at 12 percent.
No one expected him to go so far, she says, and furthermore, she doesn’t think that he wanted to.
“He certainly was never prepared or equipped to go all the way to the White House, but his ego has now taken over the driver’s seat, and nothing else matters. The Donald does not fail. The Donald does not have any weakness. The Donald is his own biggest enemy.”
This weekend, however, CNN published a piece that quoted employees and former employees of Donald Trump’s businesses. These weren’t campaign employees, but managers and former managers for his businesses, including his golf course and hotel. They were quizzed on how Trump would choose a second-in-command.
The qualifications listed are pretty standard: someone who is loyal, willing to stand up for his or her values, and someone who isn’t afraid to work hard and give their honest opinions. They’d be reasonable guesses for a running mate for any presidential candidate. Nothing Trump’s top employees listed seems likely to have struck the GOP nominee as negative or slanderous, but it still strikes a chord with what he would tweet on Saturday: “The only quote that matters is a quote from me!”
Meanwhile, the Washington Post published a review of Donald Trump’s management style . The piece discussed his firing of political director Rick Wiley, and quoted campaign employees about his leadership: that he can be disappointed when an employee doesn’t have an answer he’s seeking, that he may play two employees off one another, that he can be a micromanager.
The New York Times was the subject of at least part of Trump’s ire. In a piece titled “Donald Trump’s Campaign Stumbles As It Tries To Go Big,” the news outlet described Trump’s campaign as “lean” and as depending on the RNC to make up for resources it lacks.
“To complement its lean operation, the Trump campaign has begun relying on the Republican National Committee for everything from opposition research to communications help and voter data.”
The New York Times also made a reference to Trump campaign staff who said that they feared Trump Tower might be bugged.
The entire rant, though, seems to have encompassed a broad range of sources and representations.
The failing @nytimes wrote a story about my management style & that I don’t have many people. I have 73, Hillary has 800- & I’m beating her.
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 28, 2016
The media is on a new phony kick about my management style. I spend much less money & get much better results! What we need as Prez!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 28, 2016
Don’t believe the biased and phony media quoting people who work for my campaign. The only quote that matters is a quote from me!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 28, 2016
As for controversy, Trump’s current biggest P.R. battle may be his debate — or lack thereof — with Bernie Sanders. Since his announcement that he would wait to debate with the Democratic party’s nominee, mockers of Trump have been tweeting with the hashtag #chickenTrump. A number of celebrities and Sanders supporters have tweeted memes and jokes centering around the harsh appalation.
#ChickenTrump knew @SenSanders was going to fry him and that’s why he declined from the #BernieTrumpDebate pic.twitter.com/P1gHkRrnDa
— JL (@jl_ramone) May 29, 2016
Trump’s statement directly addresses allegations of fear of debate, assuring his public that he sees a debate with Sanders as easy and enjoyable.
“[A]s much as I want to debate Bernie Sanders – and it would be an easy payday – I will wait to debate the first place finisher.”
On one thing Donald Trump is clear: if a quote isn’t from him, it isn’t the final word.
[Photo by Mark Lyons/Getty Images]
