The media consistently reports that Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton may over-prepare for her debates and conferences, while it is well reported that Republican candidate Donald Trump avoids excess preparation. Trump also regularly claims that the mainstream media is biased against his campaign.
Before the third presidential debate on October 19, it appears Trump’s team tried to sway the media to their side with an entirely different form of preparation.
Sources told Page Six that, on the night before the third presidential debate, three senior members of Trump’s campaign took several members of the demonized “mainstream media” to the Sapphire Las Vegas, which bills itself as the largest strip club in the world.
Sapphire Las Vegas boasts:
“…70,000 square feet of topless entertainment and serving the finest variety of cocktails.”
The members of Trump’s campaign that attended the strip club excursion included senior communications adviser Jason Miller, senior adviser A.J. Delgado, and deputy communications director Jessica Ditto.
Before the debate started, Miller retweeted the following:
Media is trying to deny the irrefutably obvious. #CrookedMedia #RIPJournalism https://t.co/kqmgRhmEPb
— MediaResearchCenter (@theMRC) October 20, 2016
Trump’s campaign workers were accompanied by employees of various media networks, including CNN producer Noah Gray, NBC reporter Anthony Terrell, and an ABC News cameraman, among others. No word on if the group took Tic Tacs with them to Sapphire Las Vegas.
While Clinton may catch some flak for “overpreparing,” it appears her strategy works better than Trump’s. She was seen by a vast majority of polls of winning all three of the presidential debates, whereas Trump did not do much more than inspire an amazing Alec Baldwin impersonation.
However, all may not be lost for Trump’s campaign, as Miller tweeted this just after the debate:
Trump gains on Clinton, poll shows 'rigged' message resonates https://t.co/jTOcCpMfUY via @Reuters
— Jason Miller (@JasonMillerinDC) October 22, 2016
If Trump’s campaign taking members of the media to a strip club seems like a case of poor judgment, considering Trump’s propensity for insulting women and bragging about sexual assault, you are not alone. A media insider told Page Six:
“It was a pretty bad idea, especially the day before the final debate. It’s a serious lapse in judgment.”
To see how well Team Trump prepared, you can watch the third debate below:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VLdmEDOAA4A
Featured Image via YouTube Screenshot