Tag: teleprompters
McConnell To Trump: ‘Stick To The Script’

McConnell To Trump: ‘Stick To The Script’

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell says that while Donald Trump should “stick to the script,” he remains comfortable backing the presumptive Republican nominee.

In an atypically candid interview with Bloomberg’s “Masters in Politics” podcast, McConnell expressed caution over Trump’s racist comments towards Judge Gonzalo Curiel but maintained that a President Trump would need to answer to the center-right voters necessary to win the presidency.  

“It’s pretty obvious he doesn’t know a lot about the issues,” McConnell said. “You see that in the debates in which he’s participated. It’s why I have argued to him publicly and privately that he ought to use a script more often—there is nothing wrong with having prepared texts.”

Both literally and metaphorically, he said that Trump — a vocal critic of teleprompters — should begin using pre-written speeches as a way to avoid blunders like his comments on Curiel, which will alienate the minority voters that the GOP must focus on.

“I think he’d have a much better chance of winning if he would quit making so many unfortunate public utterances and stick to the script,” McConnell said.

He later added that during a meeting at the National Rifle Association convention, McConnell told Trump that this more reserved tactic “indicates a level of seriousness that I think is important to convey to American people about the job you are seeking.”

McConnell, who is known for being tight-lipped on candidates and controversy alike, said that Trump needs to change his approach to the campaign and pick a running-mate who is well-versed in policy.

“Now you need to demonstrate you have the seriousness of purpose that is required to be president of the United States, and most candidates on frequent occasions use a script,” McConnell said he told Trump.

At a time when many conservatives have questioned the legitimacy of Trump’s candidacy, McConnell, the top Republican in the Senate, seems like he might be a worthy judge for right-wingers unsure of how to feel on Trump.

“I’m not going to speculate about what he might say, or what I might do. But I think it’s pretty clear and I’ve been pretty clear publicly about how I think he ought to change direction and I hope that’s what we are going to see.”

Listen to the full podcast here.

Photo: U.S. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) arrives to talks to the media after a weekly Senate Republican luncheon on Capitol Hill in Washington, U.S., April 19, 2016. REUTERS/Yuri Gripas 

Colbert Reveals Trump Has Used His Own Ridiculous Teleprompter All Along

Colbert Reveals Trump Has Used His Own Ridiculous Teleprompter All Along

Published with permission from Alternet.

Stephen Colbert riffed on Trump’s use of a teleprompter Wednesday night, a move that many were shocked by since Trump often has difficulty stringing actual sentences together.

“A teleprompter! This from a guy who’s gotten this far by shouting whatever comes into his head,” Colbert mused. “Trump using a teleprompter is like The Flash using an Uber, or Aquaman taking the ferry or Bernie Sanders using a comb.”

That last one was gratuitous, but whatever.

Trump’s version is a “yell-a-prompter,” the late night host quipped, and, like the candidate, it says some pretty ridiculous things.

Watch:

Donald Trump Hates Teleprompters Unless He’s Using One

Donald Trump Hates Teleprompters Unless He’s Using One

Donald Trump was aided by a teleprompter during his speech on Tuesday night, but don’t tell him that.

Even if you couldn’t see the prompters in front of Donald Trump’s podium, you knew they were there: He was calmer, more subdued, and… “controlled,” as multiple TV networks put it. It came as no surprise that Trump’s team must have put him on a leash after an awful week, during which he attempted to delegitimize a federal judge based on his parents’ country of birth, to distract from two potentially disastrous class action lawsuits against Trump University.

But Trump has called out politicians all along for using teleprompters; it’s part of a broader marketing effort for his so-called authentic, deliberately-politically-incorrect, Nixon-esque “silent majority” campaign brand. He writes his own tweets, after all — complete with shoddy grammar and misspellings — and hidden within that obnoxiously long list of narcissism and insecurity, you’ll find a few gems:

Based on those tweets alone, it’s difficult to believe Trump would bother using a prompter. But Trump might not have a choice, as he faces pressure to fall in line with the “establishment” politicians he has slammed all along, most of whom disavowed his blatant racism towards Judge Curiel.

Trump also used a teleprompter during his recent speech on foreign policy, which led to headlines criticizing him for mispronouncing “Tanzania.” So much for his charge that Hillary Clinton — for better or worse, one of the more practiced orators in the world — was “Reading poorly from the teleprompter!”

Trump had his own struggles with the teleprompter on Tuesday. When discussing trade deals, someone in the crowd yelled “No TPP!” Trump, seemingly confused, responded by saying “No PPP, you’re right about that.” Moments later, he said, “And you mean no PP.”

The more reserved nature of his speech begs the question: How does a campaign “script” Donald Trump, and who does the scripting?. Reports indicate that the speeches were written by Trump’s “inner circle,” which includes his daughter Ivanka. Should Trump continue to rely on scripted speeches, which clearly aren’t a strength of his, that inner circle has a profoundly tall task ahead of it: if Trump can’t read as well as he demagogues, he’ll have to find a better selling point to his supporters other than his fragile “authenticity.”

Lou Dobbs said Trump “returned” during his speech on Tuesday night, and even went as far as saying, “What you saw is the guy I think we are going to see through the rest of this.” Bad news: teleprompters aren’t allowed on the debate stage.

Photo: Republican U.S. presidential candidate Donald Trump walks past a teleprompter as he departs after delivering a foreign policy speech at the Mayflower Hotel in Washington, United States, April 27, 2016. REUTERS/Jim Bourg