So we've all seen the clip of a ratings-obsessed Trump ribbing Arnold Schwarzenegger about his TV show at a prayer breakfast this morning (if not the video of both is above.) This is not the first time he has done this and, like many, I responded: "WHYYYYY?!?!?!" Why would he do this? Why would he get hung up on such meaningless and stupid details that are unbecoming to running a nation? However, not to defend everything the guy does, but I have a theory on this. I most likely am wrong and defer to my original thought that he is utterly stupid to do this but here goes.
Is this his diabolical way to confuse and deflect the sensationalist-driven media away from his controversial policies? Seriously, I think it's a fair question to ponder. Two days ago the media was wrongly leading the country to believe that a simple pause on immigration from countries that Obama had identified as dangerous was the end of our nation as we know it. Headline-only reading fools bought into this cried and protested to their heart's content. This was followed a day later by Trump's Supreme Court nomination of Neil Gorsuch and subsequent sobbing by Democrat members of Congress with the main stream media pouring gas over all of this. End of the world. Then today Trump digs at Scwarzenegger at a prayer breakfast Tuesday and its front page on CNN, Fox News, MSNBC, and countless other sites...look it up if you don't believe me. Its all anybody is talking about on social media. "Trump's and idiot!!" they scream. But the immigration outrage has paused a bit, no? A tad less contempt from the university crowd on the SCOTUS pick, right? Point is Trump has given the haters something else (that is ultimately meaningless) to bitch about and they are now bitching less about American policy decisions. If people are screaming at his "lack of intelligence" (which Trump could care less what people think about him) his policies are being implemented, Cabinet members are doing due diligence, and his people behind the scene are frantically busy pushing His vision of America through the system.
The point is Trump knows how the media and people work. They will feast on the mindless shock and scandal all day long. Read "Art of the Deal" as I have and you will see what I mean. Deflect, outrage, manipulate, win...this is his gameplan. From a policy standpoint, he knows they will never give him a fair shake anyway, no matter what he does. So why not give them mindless cake to devour, meanwhile his administrative actions gain a foothold while no one is watching?
Most likely he is stupid for stooping this low...but maybe not.