Words matter.
Spoken carefully, they can build. Spoken carelessly, they can destroy.
It is important, then, that those in positions of power choose their words carefully, and that they say precisely what they mean.
Political leaders, particularly the president and those who work for them, do damage not least to themselves if they are constantly going back to explain, correct, and clarify. If in doubt, remember Proverbs: “Even a fool, if he will hold his peace shall be counted wise: and if he close his lips, a man of understanding.”
Members of President Trump’s administration would do well to heed this advice.
White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer heaped up a shambles this week when, quoting a piece of commentary, he appeared to accuse a British spy agency, GCHQ, of working with former President Barack Obama to have Trump Tower’s “wires tapped” during the 2016 election.
Spicer’s source was Fox News commentator Andrew Napolitano, who has yet to provide any evidence of the charge. Fox News anchor Shepard Smith said separately Friday afternoon that the news side of the cable network couldn’t confirm Napolitano’s story.
British officials pushed back hard on Spicer’s claim. GHCQ even issued a rare statement, calling the remarks read out at the White House press briefing “ridiculous.”
A spokesperson for Prime Minister Theresa May also said Friday that they informed the White House that the allegations were rubbish. The same spokesperson also said they received assurances that the claim wouldn’t be repeated.
The White House explained in its conversation with British officials that it was, “simply pointing to public reports, not endorsing any specific story.”
American media called it an apology, a characterization Spicer disputes.
In other words, the White House press secretary caused a minor but not insignificant international incident in trying to mop up after the president’s tweets accusing the former president of wiretapping him.
This comes on the heels of White House counselor Kellyanne Conway claiming that kitchen microwaves can be used to track American citizens. Those particular set of remarks came last weekend as she tried her hand at spinning Trump’s surveillance story.
This White House undermines its credibility by not choosing its words carefully.
Two years ago it was unbelievable to many that Trump could be elected president. Sometimes he and his aides act as though they still don’t believe it, as if this is still the campaign, some Twitter spat, or a reality television show. It isn’t. They now are now in the seat of power of the greatest nation in the world.
Reporters aren’t the only ones parsing the president and his team. America’s allies and enemies are doing it, too.
A careless or glib comment can be misinterpreted as intentionally vicious or threatening, and this can then have serious or even dangerous consequences. An off-the-cuff suggestion by the president might sound to a foreign leader like a promise.
Let the White House proceed, then, knowing that what it says has repercussions that extend far beyond the newsrooms and coffee shops of the nation’s capital.
