One Word to Describe Trump — How Framing His Strength Can Turn the Tide

I am reminded of what George Will, a conservative columnist said recently, “Trump is what a weak person thinks is a strong leader.”
There is no doubt that current president has been a disaster. However, there is no consensus on how to frame him for his ignorance, incompetence and unforced errors.
Marko Rubio tried to out-finger him and failed. Comedians have tried sarcasm and humor and failed. Liberals have tried reason and facts and failed. Historians have urged perspective. Psychologists have refused to diagnose. It’s become a national pastime.
Republicans are the only group that has the power to change the path of the country. In particular, congressional Republicans, and they are unlikely to utter a negative thought before the mid-terms, if even then. They are both cowed by the president, and cowardly driven only by the need to be re-elected.
If we are to end this national nightmare, we need to do at least three things.
In the framing world, it’s simple. We focus on our values. Our positive values of empathy, justice and inclusivity and how they are being violated by the current incumbent. One can not simply be against something. One must stand for their own values. When this is accomplished, then we can also frame his negative values.
There is a lesson from one of the great right-wing strategists, Karl Rove. His strategy was to attack an opponent’s strength rather than amplifying their weaknesses. For example, if John Kerry is a medaled war hero, then attack his war record. It was so successful; the term Swift-Boating is now etched in the lexicon.
Why was this successful? Because it appealed to American voter’s values of strength, security and safety by attacking an imagined hypocrisy. It made the attackers seem strong by making a candidate look weak. (Note that while strength and security are typical right wing values, they also bridge the independent voters who may hold multiple values. For example, empathy and strength.)
So what, if any, are president’s strengths? We are hard put to describe them, but almost half the country saw these strengths enough to vote for him.
His first strength is his strength. Repeat, his strength is strength. Whether it is real, perceived or self-proclaimed makes no difference. His second strength is his ability to make his base think that he is listening to them.
So what frame encompasses both these strengths? One word comes to mind. “Weak.”
Trump is a “weak” president. He is “weak” on the family by separating parents and children. He is “weak” on foreign policy by capitulating to Putin. He is “weak” on decency by his vulgarity and philandering. He is weak on listening to Americans. He is even “weak” on immigration. And so on. It doesn’t matter if any of these can be argued. He is simply “weak.” Weak is the opposite of strong.
He is damaging our democracy because he is “weak.” He is damaging our country by his “weak” response to hacking. He is “weak” on Russia. He is “weak” on the constitution. He is weak on our institutions like the Department of Justice. And so on. Rinse, repeat, and repeat again.
The second thing that must be done is to tie Trump and his Retrumplicans together with kryptonite rope. Trump will pass, but unfortunately our representatives and the GOP will survive in some form. We need to ask if we want the party who has abandoned every principle, value and policy they have advanced over the last decades deserves to survive. No doubt they will try.
So every time the word “Republican” is used, it must be accompanied by the word “Trump.” Instead of saying “Republican” senators voted against an election hacking bill, we must say “Trump Republicans” voted against a security bill to protect our elections from Russian hacking. Trump is weak, and so are Trump Republicans.
The last thing that needs to accompany these frames is to stop talking about the what Trump does and more about why he does it. This is especially true for the media.
When we turn on the news, the first word we hear is Trump. Trump picked his nose. Trump paid off a prostitute. Trump, Trump, Trump. When we talk about Trump, we re-enforce the frame “Trump.” He’s a little like the old Tidy Bowl man in this respect. What Proctor and Gamble advertising experts recognized is that it doesn’t matter that there was a man in the toilet bowl, but it was how often you mentioned their product, Tidy Bowl. Repetition matters. Trump is weak.
What we need to talk about instead is why he says the things he does. For example, why does he say John McCain is not a war hero? Pointing that McCain was a hero doesn’t help. What helps is pointing our that he says these things to get attention, and because he is afraid. He is simply a weak person, and a weak president.
He is what a weak person thinks is a strong leader. But he is just weak.
