Donald Trump just exploded the heads of professional talkers on CNN. It was honestly funny.
Trump reached 1,237 delegates today, clinching the nomination of the Republican Party. He will be the 45th President of the United States, and his press conferences will be the most popular show on television. It will be huge, believe me. And after the press conference, Trump did something that might have sealed the deal with American voters. I’ll talk about that in a moment, after the world’s greatest press conference.
By the end of an impromptu presser in North Dakota, the reporters sounded like high school students, pumping their favorite teacher for hints about what questions will be on the final exam. The reporters were laughing at all of Trump’s one-liners, even the subtle ones and the lines the very touchy people say they find offensive. Like calling Elizabeth Warren “Pocahontas.” That was the turning point in the presser.
Someone mentioned Senator Warren, and Trump, in his answer, said “Pocahontas.” A reporter from North Dakota shouted, “that’s very offensive.” Trump looked her in the eye and said, “Oh, oh, I’m sorry about that.”
Then, Trump continued, “Pocahontas, is that what you said?”
This was a great moment in the campaign. Trump showed that he’s in charge and the rules have changed. One snowflake reporter’s hypersensitive freakout won’t stop him from going after a fraudulant Senator who attacked Trump first. As punctuation, Trump tweeted:
I find it offensive that Goofy Elizabeth Warren, sometimes referred to as Pocahontas, pretended to be Native American to get in Harvard.
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 26, 2016
Boom! It’s over. Every sane American now realizes that Fauxcahontas did something far more offensive to American Indians than to use the name, Pocahontas. After that, the press began treating Trump differently. While I could not see the reporters, their voices and their word choices became far more deferential. Those reporters won’t admit it, but it happened right before your ears. And I pay attention to words and deportment, remember? That’s how I predicted the exact day Ted Cruz would drop out.
Something else happened at the presser, too. Something that signaled a big change in our national conversation. Trump was honest in a way no one can remember. Trump talked about getting a better deal for the Keystone Pipeline. He honestly addressed the issue of eminent domain and how eminent domain was necessary to build that pipeline. In just a few seconds, Trump told people how the world really works–a secret previously protected by big government and big business. This remarkable new honesty and openness about the way the world really works opens new doors to solving issues, and it’s a huge part of negotiation. The FBI’s former lead hostage negotiator, Chris Voss, explains in his awesome new book, Never Split the Difference: Negotiating As If Your Life Depended On It:
Remember the amygdala, the part of the brain that generates fear in reaction to threats? Well, the faster we can interrupt the amygdala’s reaction to real or imaginary threats, the faster we can clear the road of obstacles, and the quicker we can generate feelings of safety, well-being, and trust. We do that by labeling the fears. These labels are so powerful because they bathe the fears in sunlight, bleaching them of their power and showing our counterpart that we understand.
Peggy Noonan writes of our need for labeling, too:
The lack of backlash against Mr. Trump’s attacks on Mrs. Clinton, though, I suspect is due to something else. It’s that the subject matter really comes down to one word: decadence. People right now will respect a political leader who will name and define what they themselves see as the utter decadence of Washington.
Conservatives afraid of eminent domain? You can’t have a pipeline without it. BOOM!
Liberals afraid of offending someone? Pocahontas. BOOM!
You are watching a master negotiator at work. Trump talks openly about the elephants in the room. The Republican establishment, Conservative Inc., the press, big corporations, and various Oppressed Minority snowflake committees lied to you for generations, denying these elephants by shushing any mention of them. Here’s Trump now stating the obvious, and people are loving it. This new honesty will help him win in a landslide with about 400 electoral college votes.
Speaking of people loving it, a lot of people love McDonald’s. Even though Budweiser changed its name to America in part because of Trump, everybody knows that McDonald’s is the universal American brand. McDonald’s is a memory, and a great memory.
Donald Trump celebrated his nomination win–and his win is official now–by eating McDonald’s on his private jet.
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Every great advertiser knows contrast is the key to attention. Trump could have had an expensive meal to celebrate. Instead, he had McDonald’s, like an ordinary American. Like you.
This photo is priceless. It identifies Trump with America and with every American who ever ate at McDonald’s after winning a ball game. Which is everybody. This picture should be in a museum labeled “Trump Seals the Deal.”
Every time you smell McDonald’s french fries, now, you’ll think about Trump. And every time you hear about private jets, you’ll think about Trump eating McDonald’s like a kid who just won a Little League baseball game. Expect to start hearing about McDonald’s turnaround after years of declining sales and revenue now.
Amazing, is it not?
UPDATE: The Gateway Pundit found a 1984 story of Ronald Reagan stopping for McDonald’s on the campaign trail.