Donald Trump's watching a lot of television, and it's worrying his aides: reports

[OKIsItJustMe]

Source: Salon

[div class"excerpt"][font faceSerif]Tuesday, Jan 24, 2017 10:16 AM EST
[font size5]Donald Trump's watching a lot of television, and it's worrying his aides: reports[/font]
[font size4]To understand the president's erratic behavior, you must understand his media addiction, reports indicate[/font]
Matthew Rozsa

[font size3]President Donald Trump is obsessed with the media consuming it, reacting to it and being depicted positively by it. That obsessions is born not only out of egotism but, as recent reports reveal, by a seemingly-uncontrollable fixation on them. The word addiction is not being used here literally, but when reading about his media consumption habits, it can be difficult to think of a fitting substitute.

Print copies of three newspapers, [link:https://www.axios.com/trump-101-what-he-reads-and-watches-2210510272.htmlwrote Mike Allen and Jim VandeHei of Axios in an article describing the presidents media habits on Tuesday]. "When Billy Bush was on, 'Access Hollywood' every night. TiVo of the morning and evening news shows so he can watch the tops of all of them. Always '60 Minutes.' Often 'Meet the Press.' Lots of New York talk radio."

Allen and VandeHei also reported that Trump doesn't read books and avoids reports and briefings he considers too lengthy. That didn't mean that Trump is hip to advancing technologies, however he doesn't use computers and rarely uses his phone for anything but calls. Even his infamous tweets are often dictated and then submitted by others. He doesn't follow online news outlets, instead preferring traditional outlets including newspapers like "The New York Times" and "The New York Post" (which one friend referred to as "the paper of record for him&quot and journalistic programs like "60 Minutes."

He is particularly obsessed with TV.

Most mornings, Trump flicks on the TV and watches 'Morning Joe,' often for long periods of time, sometimes interrupted with texts to the hosts or panelists. After the 6 a.m. hour of "Joe," he's often on to Fox & Friends by 7 a.m., with a little CNN before or after. He also catches the Sunday shows, especially "Meet the Press." "The shows," as he calls them, often provoke his tweets. The day of our interview with him, all of his tweet topics were discussed during the first two hours of "Morning Joe."

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Read more: http://www.salon.com/2017/01/24/donald-trump-is-addicted-to-the-media-and-its-worrying-his-aides/

[Jacob Boehme]

1. Nothing quite says lazy like...

tRump avoiding his presidential duties by sitting on his ass all day, obsessing on his TV image.

[Eyeball_Kid]

22. Joe Scar ought to do a lead piece on "Narcissistic Personality Disorder". But wait...

That kind of content might hit a little too close to home for Joe Scar.

What happened to that intern, anyway?

[dchill]

52. Not to worry.

The Heritage Foundation will take care of the day-to-day.

[LittleGirl]

2. nobody is surprised by this right? eom

[wordpix]

30. he's always been obsessed with media, no not surprised

run the government? huh?

[LittleGirl]

32. and 62 million other obsessed

tv viewers voted for him too. damn it.

[Crash2Parties]

59. Clearly, running the governmnet is what the rest of the GOP is for.

He only deals with things that affect a) his image and, b) his wealth. All the rest go to Pence to distribute however he wishes.

[underpants]

3. We're only a few steps away from Howard Hughes territory

[mahatmakanejeeves]

8. Buy stock in Kleenex. NT

[Javaman]

17. ...

[keithbvadu2]

50. "Howard Hughes territory" ---- Ouch!

[manicraven]

51. Yikes! Good one!

[meadowlark5]

4. Momma KellyAnne needs to step in and

limit her toddler's tv time.

[Eliot Rosewater]

5. What an absolute disgrace it is to have that many Americans vote for this idiot.

due to their strong racism and hate, they were willing to vote for the worst person, or one of them, on the planet.

NO way around that.

[Turbineguy]

6. Here's an idea for the TV networks:

Play clips of Obama so Trump can learn how to be President!

[OKIsItJustMe]

7. Didn't work...

They already played clips of him for eight years...

[Sunlei]

10. tweet him :P @WhiteHouse @POTUS SALON says, YOUR AIDS REPORTED ALL YOU DO IS WATCH TV & CAN

Sunlei ?@SunleiHolysmoke · now
@WhiteHouse @POTUS SALON says, YOUR AIDS REPORTED ALL YOU DO IS WATCH TV & CAN'T READ. DON'T YOU HAVE ANYONE WHO CAN READ STUFF TO YOU?

[Sunlei]

9. wow his aids must hate working for him, they leak like a sieve to the crazy tabloid press

[Dave Starsky]

11. I thought he hated the New York Times.

Can't these people keep their stories straight even once?

[brush]

48. Right. The Times is written at too high a grade level. Most likely The Post.

Last edited Tue Jan 24, 2017, 04:26 PM - Edit history (1)

[hamsterjill]

12. The man is insane.

He hasn't realized yet that he's the President.

[wordpix]

31. hasn't sunk in to Pres. Con the campaign is over

[hamsterjill]

47. Yes, the campaign IS over.

But I, myself, am also having a hard time realizing he's the President! LOL LOL LOL

Seriously, though, someone needs to tell the dumbass that the campaign is over.

[OKIsItJustMe]

56. Truthfully, I still find it hard to believe...

Yet every day, there he is…

[JonLP24]

60. Real life always has the best material

You couldn't write something like this for fiction. Too bizarre and we have no idea what's coming.

[maddiemom]

13. He gets his news by reading (one assumes) three newspapers---

BUT doesn't read lengthy reports or briefings (we already know he doesn't read books) and watches ( and is "'obsessed" by) TV and catches Morning Joe and Fox and Friends every morning? Doesn't this seem very contradictory and strange? Of course, not surprising news, considering the man.

[mopinko]

24. he prolly reads the headlines, and if it is about him, he reads that.

other than that, maybe a first graph or 2, but i am sure that is it.
would be surprised if he found his was past the first section.

[jodymarie aimee]

14. for you MOJO hold outs

NOW will you stop giving them ratings?

[procon]

15. So, Trump doesn't use all the detailed, indepth reports delivered to him as the president,

and instead turns on the TV to gather third hand information, falsehoods and unsubstantiated opinions from celebrity talkshow hosts? Bush was shepherded along by Rove and Cheney and look where that took us, but there's no telling where we're going to end up with Trump's TV personalities jockeying for higher ratings.

[Javaman]

16. crazy old bad hair Elvis is in the WH. nt

[jeffreyi]

18. I would like to see

Evidence that he is actually literate. In the meantime, there's war on every front. EpA, ARS (wow, there's some subversion for you), we won't have a government in a very short time.

[Eyeball_Kid]

23. It appears that he can read from a teleprompter.

But in nearly all instances, he stays within his 200 word vocabulary.

[global1]

19. What Could Really Drive Trump Over The Edge....

is if he visited DU every day and read the posts here and what we think of him.

Somebody should tweet him a link to DU.

[OKIsItJustMe]

34. I wouldn't be surprised if others are reading DU for him

TOR Anyone?

[Snarkoleptic]

20. It just clicked for me! Trump is a loathsome and unsympathetic version of Martin Tupper from

HBO's 1990's series Dream On, featuring Brian Benben.
He grew up unloved and parked in front of the TV and living in the shadow of those much more successful than himself.

The show centered on Martin Tupper's (Brian Benben) life in an apartment in New York City with his teenaged son, and relating to his ex-wife, while trying to date other women and succeed as an editor for a small book publisher with Toby, his brassy secretary. Judith, his ex-wife, went on to marry Dr. Richard Stone - the never-seen (until the end of the series), most impossibly successful man on the planet (astronaut, brain surgeon, the fifth Beatle and consultant to the Pope); despite Martin's undying love for Judith, he could never compete with the legendary Dr. Stone. The opening indicates Martin's mother was "friendly", and always parked him in front of the TV, hence the association of sex with his memories. The show was notable for its frequent use of clips from old movies and TV shows to express Martin's inner life and feelings, which lent it much of its quirky appeal, reminding viewers about the impact of TV on their consciousness. The show was also significant for being one of the first American sitcoms to use uncensored profanity and nudity.[1]

Dream On first aired July 1990 on HBO, and was cancelled by HBO in March 1996. One season of the show, with language and nudity edited for broadcast, aired in prime time on the Fox Network in 1995: Sunday at 9:30-10:00 pm from January to April and Monday at 9:00-10:00 pm from June to July.[2] This bowdlerized version was later made available in syndication.

[logosoco]

21. Maybe it is because of having first learned of tRump in the 80s

on Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous, but to me he is stuck in the 80s.

I have moved on from that era. I do still listen to some of the music and have books from then and occasionally play movies from then for my grandsons. But it was not really a very progressive era.

I think him being stuck in the 80s and not reading tells me all I need to know about him.

He doesn't use computers? Even my 82 year old mother uses computers!!!!

TV media is so superficial. The internet has exposed us all to much deeper news. If that is all one sees, that is a small view. A real president needs a much larger view.

[Oneironaut]

25. Trump is the type that requires constant adoration.

He expects everybody to kiss his butt at all times. Being criticized is new to him. He prefers to be surrounded by syncophants and yes-men.

[mpcamb]

44. I think he's an ADD type guy. I doubt he can keep his mind on much for long.

[Buckeye_Democrat]

26. More confirmation for Tony Schwartz.

http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2016/07/25/donald-trumps-ghostwriter-tells-all

But Schwartz believes that Trump’s short attention span has left him with “a stunning level of superficial knowledge and plain ignorance.” He said, “That’s why he so prefers TV as his first news source—information comes in easily digestible sound bites.” He added, “I seriously doubt that Trump has ever read a book straight through in his adult life.” During the eighteen months that he observed Trump, Schwartz said, he never saw a book on Trump’s desk, or elsewhere in his office, or in his apartment...

... Evidently suspecting that many years had elapsed since he’d read it, Kelly asked Trump to talk about the most recent book he’d read. “I read passages, I read areas, I’ll read chapters—I don’t have the time,” Trump said. As The New Republic noted recently, this attitude is not shared by most U.S. Presidents, including Barack Obama, a habitual consumer of current books, and George W. Bush, who reportedly engaged in a fiercely competitive book-reading contest with his political adviser Karl Rove.

[asiliveandbreathe]

27. STOP! - who gives a crap...

[OKIsItJustMe]

36. A President who ignores his intelligence advisors, but trusts the TV is liable to be misinformed.

That's a really serious problem.

[asiliveandbreathe]

43. Yes it is - I agree with you - so where are the intelligent trustworthy

reporters - and our very own CIA/FBI/IC - etcetcetc..this goes way beyond our pay grade....where are our elected DEM officials..they should be blowing this whole thing sky high....

and Bernie can work with the POS...give me a break - because he let go of the TPP - I see that as a Here kitty kitty - I have a treat for you - now go take a nappy...

[progree]

28. Well, a little of this isn't bad ... contrast to Bush II where aides had to show him some of the

awful coverage he was getting about his non-response to Hurricane Katrina. People on their roofs with Help! signs. The scene at the Superdome. Aides made a CD of some of the network news shows and sat him down and showed it to him.

[font color = blue]>>Lots of New York talk radio. <<[/font]

Ugghhhh not good.

[angrychair]

29. Did we just all skip past the tweet part???

Even his infamous tweets are often dictated and then submitted by others.

So this moron doesn't even do his own tweets? Other thinking human beings are willingly tweeting what this idiot says?
There is a tweet campaign in there somewhere

"Blink twice if you are being held against your will to tweet about sex tapes at 2 in the morning"


Free trump's Twitter slaves!!

[wordpix]

33. Breaking, Sean Spicer briefing press

more total BS and lies

[left-of-center2012]

35. I bet he misses Captain Kangaroo

And Howdy Doody.

[DeminPennswoods]

37. He uses dictation you say?

If there's dictation, there must be tapes. Call Rosemary Woods!

[lunatica]

38. I would be shocked if this weren't so

But I'm willing to bet he only watches to see what they say about him. Why else would he watch?

[Buckeye_Democrat]

40. Yep. There was a report during the campaign that...

he stopped answering an interviewer's question when he saw himself on TV.

He watched, smiled and didn't resume the interview until the TV stopped showing him!

[NRaleighLiberal]

39. somebody send him the link to DU. He'll love it! He'll find it just fantastic!

[Orrex]

41. Why the fuck does he have time to watch tv?

[LiberalLovinLug]

42. He's in heaven

He has the best of all worlds (to him)

He a big Star on a reality TV show
But he is also the Winner of that reality TV show. But this reality TV show keeps going after the winner is decided.
And besides being the Star and Winner of the show at the same time he also gets to be a Viewer of this show in real time as well. (Most reality show stars cannot even watch themselves on it for months).


Star...Winner....and Viewer at the same time! WOO HOO!

[bucolic_frolic]

45. Yeah, because it takes deep thought to govern

It takes public policy, mathematical models, statistical methods, studies,
trade-offs, wisdom, brain power, effort

GOP can say what they want about Obama, he never lacked for any of that

But this moron is guiding the nation with 30 second adult attention deficit disorder

and ego-maniacal self-congratulation supply

Very ill-suited to the job

[ffr]

46. Dare I say the S word?

This thin skinned drip may be suicidal already. Just wait until he's drawn up for impeachment by his own party.

[dixiegrrrrl]

54. If he were impeached, he would be his own lawyer..

No way can he sit still for more than a few minutes and not talk.

[Madam45for2923]

49. Hillary & Donald -the same... suuuuure!

[JohnnyRingo]

53. Who needs a Presidential Daily Briefing?

Trump has Fox & Friends.

It's like Steve Doocy has a cabinet position.

[loyalsister]

55. The instantly reminded me of a West Wing episode

when Bartlett had to stay in bed because he had the flu. He was watching soap operas and was confused by them "don't these people have jobs?" I want a president who is only slightly aware of what is on television and pop culture generally.

[area51]

57. He has time for this,

but not for daily briefings?

[Wabbajack_]

58. Good!

The less time he spends "governing" the better.