On December 15, Donald Trump was supposed to hold a news conference addressing how he plans to deal his business conflicts. Left unresolved, these conflicts will cause him to violate the Constitution on his first day in office.
But late Monday night, Trump, citing “busy times,” announced that the news conference will be postponed — conveniently, until after the Electoral College convenes on December 19.
I will hold a press conference in the near future to discuss the business, Cabinet picks and all other topics of interest. Busy times!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 13, 2016
Hours later, Trump announced that his choice for secretary of state is ExxonMobil CEO Rex Tillerson. Tillerson was awarded the Order of Friendship by Russian President Vladimir Putin in 2013, and his nomination comes days after news broke that the CIA believes Russian cyberattacks during the presidential election were aimed at tipping the balance for Trump.
All told, Trump faced a tough news cycle on Tuesday. So what did he do? Create a circus to distract people.
It worked.
First, Kanye West went to Trump Tower and met with Trump — a meeting that reportedly took place at Trump’s behest. News of the summit dominated cable news. Here’s just a sampling over a two-hour period this morning.
Trump’s business conflicts and selection of Exxon’s CEO as his top diplomat quickly became blips on the internet radar in comparison to interest in his meeting with Yeezus.
E! News reports that the Kanye meeting was instigated by Trump, who’s interested in getting West involved in an “entrepreneurial leadership role” and making him an “ambassador of sorts.”
Shortly after Kanye departed, the carnival-like atmosphere at Trump Tower continued with the arrival of former NFL stars Ray Lewis and Jim Brown, who met with Trump and then talked to reporters afterward.
Ray Lewis and Jim Brown meet with President-elect Donald Trump at Trump Tower: "We're not here because of politics" https://t.co/kENBlJmiL3
— CNN Politics (@CNNPolitics) December 13, 2016
The tactic is one frequently deployed by Trump.
One of his first major decisions as president-elect was to appoint Steve Bannon, executive chairman Breitbart News, a site that caters to white nationalists, as his “chief strategist and senior counselor.”
But Trump kept people distracted by creating a reality show-style atmosphere around his vetting of potential cabinet picks, particularly Mitt Romney.
CNN and Vanity Fair spent time covering gossip that Trump was “irritated” at campaign manager Kellyanne Conway over remarks she made criticizing Mitt Romney, a rumored candidate for Secretary of State.
Despite breathless coverage of Romney’s dinner meeting with Trump, Romney never got a cabinet position and rumors of a Trump-Conway beef are a distant memory.
During a Fox News interview last month, Trump supporter Newt Gingrich explained why it’s in Trump’s interest to keep the media and public distracted.
“Candidly, the news media is going to chase the rabbit,” he said. “So it’s better off for him to give them a rabbit than for them to go find their own rabbit. He’s had them fixated on Mitt Romney now for five or six days. I think from his perspective, that’s terrific. It gives everyone something to talk about.”
On Tuesday, the discussion should have been laser focused on Trump’s conflicts and the controversial appointment of Tillerson. But the media was chasing the rabbit — just as Trump intended.