Trump's former campaign staff fed him positive news to keep him from rage-tweeting
President Trump's former campaign staff formulated a strategy for keeping the quick-to-tweet candidate off of Twitter, and it involved healthy doses of praise from the media. When there was none, the staffers would work with Trump-friendly outlets to ensure there would be something they could print and deliver to Trump's desk, Politico reports:
"If candidate Trump was upset about unfair coverage, it was productive to show him that he was getting fair coverage from outlets that were persuadable," explained former communications director Sam Nunberg. Another former Trump campaign official added: "[Trump] saw there was activity so he didn't feel like he had to respond. He sends out these tweets when he feels like people aren't responding enough for him."
Politico adds that aides in the White House might be taking note, as they have noticed "leaving [Trump] alone for several hours can prove damaging, because he consumes too much television and gripes to people outside the White House."
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Jeva Lange was the executive editor at TheWeek.com. She formerly served as The Week's deputy editor and culture critic. She is also a contributor to Screen Slate, and her writing has appeared in The New York Daily News, The Awl, Vice, and Gothamist, among other publications. Jeva lives in New York City. Follow her on Twitter.
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