The Washington Post's Express tabloid carried an AP Supreme Court nomination dispatch as its cover story. “Trump savors the reveal” was the headline. AP reporters Catherine Lucey and Zeke Miller began a story on this “Supreme show” with all of the president’s current political headaches.
BERKELEY HEIGHTS, N.J. (AP) — A family separation crisis of his own making continues at the border. His Environmental Protection Agency chief just quit amid mounting scandals. And he’s about to meet with an adversary accused of meddling in the 2016 election.
But President Donald Trump has every confidence that on Monday night, the nation’s attention will be right where he wants it....the optics-obsessed president will be in his comfort zone — taking center stage in a massive show.
It reminded us of Tom Brokaw opening NBC’s coverage of the first night of the GOP convention in 1988, with President Reagan’s big speech: “In this hall tonight, you’ll hear nothing of Iran-Contra, or Meese, or Deaver, or Nofziger, or the tragedy in Beirut.”
Republican events are presented as troubling distractions from liberal-media obsessions. Lucey and Miller also announced that Trump has few achievements – as if Gorsuch wasn’t one?
In an administration light on policy achievements, the president often views media attention — and positive headlines — as a victory unto itself.
But Trump recognizes that the court pick offers both sizzle and substance, giving him the opportunity to tip the balance on the court toward conservatives for decades.
Douglas Brinkley, a history professor at Rice University, said the nomination has the added benefit of dominating the news, potentially overshadowing coverage of migrant children separated from their parents at the border.
Said Brinkley: “It’s been a tough summer until this gift that Kennedy gave him.”
It's always a "tough season" when the Trump-hating media is defining what "news" is.
