You Can’t Beat Trump at His Game
You can’t beat Trump at his game. Based on photo downloaded from Edwin Francisco on Pixabay, labeled as “free for commercial use, no attribution required”.
You can’t beat Trump at his own game. Pelosi ripping up the President’s speech was incredibly stupid (although I can understand her frustration) and may end up costing the Democrats the White House.
The president has locked down the segment of the electorate that wants to see a 4-year-old in the White House. There is no point in trying to out-temper-tantrum Trump.
Trump is a master at establishing his own rules of the game and changing rules as he pleases. He is a master at bending the narrative to his own purpose. Don’t try to out-do him at his own game.
The way to respond to a bully is to stand firm, to refuse to fall into their trap. People who stand up to his antics, who refuse to take his bait, come out stronger and more respected. It happened to Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, when he told her and three other Democratic congress women to “go back to where they came from” (New York). It happened to Greta Thunberg, who was repeatedly not impressed by Trump’s demeaning tweets but used them to her advantage. They did not fight him back on his terms, they rolled with his blows, and then used them to their advantage. And Trump went on to easier targets.
Had Pelosi kept her cool, retained her respect for the office of the President, however much the person occupying it has demeaned it, the talk the next morning would have been all about how Trump snubbed her, how Trump held a campaign-rally type speech. Instead of everyone talking about Pelosi demonstratively tearing up the speech.
Eric Grivel
February 8, 2020