If it wasn’t so worrying, it would be almost amusing to watch Donald Trump grind his gears as he scrambles to adopt a more adult, presidential tone.
The change began from his very first speech after the shock announcement of his election win. In a relatively subdued manner, he heaped praise on his defeated opponent Hillary Clinton, then told the nation:
“Now it’s time for America to bind the wounds of division …. To all Republicans and Democrats and independents across this nation, I say it is time for us to come together as one united people.”
It was surprisingly statesmanlike, and some financial analysts say it did a lot to calm the global market jitters that started immediately upon news of his victory. A currency specialist at UKForex commented:
“Trump definitely helped. It wasn’t quite the reaction we were expecting. Investors and traders are still trying to get their heads around the official result, and there’s a lot of trepidation out there.”
The following day he met outgoing President Barack Obama, and stuck to the diplomatic script. He had lambasted Obama repeatedly during the run-up, but after their meeting he called him a “very good man” and said:
“I very much look forward to dealing with the president in the future, including counsel.”
So far, so soothing. But in the small hours of the next morning he reverted to type, and sent out a tweet that was much more typically Trump.
Just had a very open and successful presidential election. Now professional protesters, incited by the media, are protesting. Very unfair!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 11, 2016
It has been reported that his campaign managers and advisors have recently taken a much more controlling stance on his Twitter activities, and even suggestions that they now monitor his tweets before they go out.
They must have missed that one. After all, it was late at night. But they were soon back on his case, and it’s not hard to imagine he was under some pressure to get back on message and tweet again just nine hours later, effectively retracting his earlier criticism.
Love the fact that the small groups of protesters last night have passion for our great country. We will all come together and be proud!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 11, 2016
Backtracks and reactions like this may come to characterize the Jekyll & Hyde presidency of Donald Trump. In just the last few days, he has dialed back on two of his most newsworthy promises, to have Clinton investigated and jailed, and to repeal Obamacare.
After “Cheatin’ Hillary” and “Lyin’ Ted Cruz,” are we about to enter the era of “Flipfloppin’ Donald?”
Let’s remind ourselves of what the new, caring Donald Trump looked and sounded like on victory night.
Featured image: Gage Skidmore via Flickr.com/Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 2.0 Generic License
