One of the prevailing criticisms of Donald Trump during his campaign for the presidency was his complete lack of experience acting as an elected official. Of course, this attribute heightened his appeal with many voters too.
But now, as he enters his third month in office, the country is adjusting to Trump’s approach to the presidency right along with him.
Earlier this month, Trump accused Barack Obama of wiretapping his office during the election, tweeting first, “Obama had my ‘wires tapped’ in Trump Tower just before the victory” and then again moments later to call his predecessor a “Bad (or sick) guy!”
On Monday, however, after days of swirling speculation, White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer clarified that Trump, “doesn’t really think that President Obama went up and tapped his phone personally,” shifting blame away from Obama as an individual to the Obama administration as a whole.
Of course, Donald Trump did not imply Barack Obama physically tapped his phone in some sort of James Bond maneuver. But calling the former president a “bad (or sick) guy” in a tweet saying he “went low” to tap Trump Tower’s wires pretty clearly implied he believed Obama was directly involved in the alleged surveillance.
So often it seems as though Trump speaks with the casualness of a buzzed dad at a barbecue. In informal conversations between private citizens, it’s perfectly normal, if not a little loose with facts, to speak in gross generalizations. There are no consequences and it sprinkles discussions with a little extra excitement.
Still, unless he literally meant Obama personally ordered the tapping of the wires in Trump Tower, and did not mean it was simply something carried out by his administration, Trump’s conversational style deserves the blame for misleading people on this issue. A simple shift away from targeting Obama as an individual towards his administration could have avoided a significant portion of the controversy.
Yes, much of Trump’s appeal with disenfranchised, anti-establishment voters who do not trust polished politicians was absolutely predicated in part on his ability to speak like he was just your average citizen- the dad at the barbecue, the friend at a party, the mom at book club. He always spoke simply, at first without teleprompters at all, and did not use the heightened rhetoric of his Ivy League peers. This built trust between him and his supporters.
But now that his preferred parlance has more serious consequences, will Trump care? Or will the political benefits of speaking as casually as a parent on the sidelines of a middle school soccer match outweigh the costs of inciting national and international consequences?
Emily Jashinsky is a commentary writer for the Washington Examiner.
