Like many around the planet Earth, I remain incredulous that the President of the USA seems to speak and act like an erratic, unpredictable, uninformed toddler. I like to think of myself as open-minded and only react to things I’ve heard him actually say in interviews or read that he’s written himself. Everything else, I think, could be labelled interpretation, opinion, hearsay, third-hand. I like to take people as I find them. The extract from his interview with Piers Morgan about his irresponsible retweeting of far right videos got me thinking about apologies:
Piers Morgan: Can I get an apology out of you just for the retweets of Britain First? It would go a long way.
President Donald Trump: Here's what's fair. If you're telling me that they're horrible, racist people I would certainly apologise if you'd like me to do that. I know nothing about them.
PM: And you would disavow yourself of people like that?
DT: I don't want to be involved with people like that. But you're telling me about these people. Because I know nothing about these people.
PM: Thank you Mr President.
DT: Thank you.
PM: It means a lot to people.
If Piers Morgan knew exactly what he was doing and was listening very carefully and critically, then he is a very poor journalist for letting Donald Trump “off the hook” in that exchange. Is there an apology there? Did the President even understand what he was being asked to apologise for? My instincts (based on the many past utterances of both men) is that it seems to be a meeting of intellectual equals. But I’ll eat my words (and say sorry in a future blog) if in the next phase of the interview, Piers Morgan goes on to challenge the President further about his (seeming) inability to clarify what he means.
We all need second chances. During my career I had to (justifiably) say “sorry” a few times and managed to survive a couple of dodgy situations where I might have been suspended (always on the side of students I have to point out; I tended to find myself in opposition to colleagues or to the parents of students….) So it was a surprise for me to wonder whether or not I might have to revise my overall assessment of Donald Trump when I watched his speech at the World Economic Forum in Davos. Although he was openly booed when he made predictable “fake news” comments (in the Q&A after the speech) and unbelievable when he seemed to be taking sole credit for the USA’s strong economy, his soundbite message of “America First does not mean America Alone” was at least a more nuanced and conciliatory message. A one-off clever scripted soundbite? Did he mean it? Did he understand the speech’s implications? Time will tell.
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