Think about it: What are the optics behind the reality-show presidency?

If Barack Obama was the "West Wing" president, then Donald Trump is "The Apprentice" president

Published March 21, 2017 5:00PM (EDT)

If there’s one image that best fits the first two months of the Donald Trump presidency, it’s the image of Donald Trump and some sort of table:

Donald Trump sitting around a table with CEOs.

Donald Trump sitting around a table with lawmakers.

Donald Trump in the Oval Office, surrounded by those same CEOs and lawmakers.

What’s really weird about these photo ops is that this man is the president of the United States. Yet he’s really into some reality-television level gimmicks.

Think back to the moment — that fleeting moment the night before he was inaugurated. He and Melania Trump walked to the foot of the Lincoln Memorial and stared at Abraham Lincoln’s statue. There, Trump pretended to take in the seriousness of the job he was about to undertake.

This truly is a reality-television presidency. So while the president has signed two bans intended to keep Muslims out of the United States, prepares to slash the social safety net and botched a raid in Yemen, he hasn't taken responsibility for the fallout. 

So that raises a key question: Does Donald Trump care more about what he does or how he looks doing it?

 


By Jeremy Binckes

MORE FROM Jeremy Binckes


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Barack Obama Donald Trump Original Video Reality Television The Apprentice Think About It