March 1, 2017
By James Fallows
...But because this was by Donald Trump, (click here) and because stylistically it was such a contrast to his other big-deal rhetorical presentations, it is in my view receiving a significant grading-on-the-curve benefit. For other presidents, sticking close to the pre-released text was a normal expectation. In Barack Obama’s case, it was the source of right-wing criticism that he was “slave to the teleprompter.” In Bill Clinton’s case, a prompter emergency gave rise to his policy-detail improvisation in a big speech on health-care policy in 1993. But before Trump, no one wondered or worried whether a president could stick to the text, or felt relief that he had....
No human being magically changes overnight as if a phoenix. The only way a person can change a perception is if they were first wrongly perceived. He was never wrongly perceived after he began his cabinet nominations. It was all too obvious.
The real Donald Trump finally stood up after the election, previous to the election he was a manipulated image to the American voter. Kellyanne Conway and Steve Bannow created "Trump the candidate." Who he is as President is completely obvious and not at all resembling Trump the candidate.
I won't participate in the VALUE of his speeches since, they are not from the image he was when elected. He will always be a vicious power broker with a manipulated image as a populous candidate.
