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| Hope Hicks |
Donald Trump brought back his trusted communications director Hope Hicks from her cushy PR job at Fox to restore momentum to the White House in the aftermath of the impeachment.
It's not working out too well.
Politico reports that Hicks was the mastermind behind of Trump's daily COVID-19 press briefings.
The Hicks plan was for Trump to serve as "the wartime president" or the front man for the battle against coronavirus.
The goal, according to Politico, was to position Trump as "a leader who could offer calming messages, critical health information and important updates on the progress of the White House’s response efforts, instead of delegating those responsibilities to health officials or the vice president."
What was she thinking? As Sarah Palin would ask, "How's that working out for ya, Hopie?"
After the disastrous ultraviolet light and disinfectant briefing, the president now views the daily briefings as a waste of time.
And Trump being Trump blames the "lamestream press" (a hat tip to Sarah) rather than his own lunacy for the killing of the briefings.
His April 25 tweet:
"What is the purpose of having White House News Conferences when the Lamestream Media asks nothing but hostile questions, & then refuses to report the truth or facts accurately? They get record ratings, & the American people get nothing but Fake News. Not worth the time & effort!?
And of course, Trump decided April 27 that his ego commanded him to once again move into the briefing spotlight.
Politico reports that 31-year-old Hicks must now present Trump as someone in charge, while guarding against overexposure, which threatens his re-election and Republican control of the Senate.
Good luck with that.
Hicks will certainly rue the day she decided to exit the friendly confines of Fox, where Trump is hailed every day as the second coming of Ronald Regan.
"I'm not a doctor, but," said Trump after he suggested the ultraviolet lights and disinfectants may just be the magic bullets needed to fight the COVID-19 pandemic.
The line triggered memory of the "I'm not a doctor, but I play one on TV" line from the popular TV ad from Richardson-Vicks for Vicks Formula 44 during the 1980s.
That ad featured actor Chris Robinson, who played Dr. Rick Webber on the General Hospital soap opera, hawking Vicks as the cure for coughs.
It was so popular that it survived the tax evasion conviction of Robinson in 1985.
Procter & Gamble, which acquired R-V in 1985, swapped Robinson out, replacing him with Peter Bergman, who played Dr. Cliff Warner on the soap, "All My Children."
My hunch is that many Americans will mistakenly think reality show veteran Trump said, "I'm not a president, but I played one on TV" after his COVID-19 briefing.
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