Ask A Genius 630: ETTD
Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen and Rick Rosner
Publication (Outlet/Website): Ask A Genius
Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2021/09/15
[Recording Start]
Rick Rosner: Are you ready? Okay, so there’s this Never Trumper, a former Republican strategist named Rick Wilson, who coined a principle he calls “everything Trump touches dies,” abbreviated as hashtag ETTD. His theory is that Trump is such a disaster that anyone associated with him is likely to become unemployable for the rest of their career. Additionally, any enterprise linked with Trump will probably fail. He’s like the kiss of death. It’s a compelling principle given how many examples there are. He’s the guy who went bankrupt multiple times running casinos, which should be the simplest business because people just hand over their money.
Now, I’ve noticed another principle, not as solid but perhaps still valid: there’s no good news about Trump. Every story that continues to emerge about him never paints him in a better light. For instance, today, parts of Woodward’s book about Trump’s last days in the White House started circulating. It includes revelations like General Milley, the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, contacting his Chinese counterpart to express concerns about Trump’s behavior, hinting at the possibility of a coup. Milley even assured the Chinese official that he’d keep them informed to avoid a nuclear confrontation if Trump made any aggressive moves. Moreover, Milley reportedly vowed to his generals that they wouldn’t follow through on any insane directives from Trump.
This information, alongside other revelations about Trump’s inner circle, like Vice President Pence, consistently portrays Trump negatively. This leads to my principle: there’s simply no good news about Trump. Nothing that comes out ever shows him in a more favorable light. You never hear stories about Trump secretly sending puppies to children or anything of that sort. Every new story about Trump reinforces the notion that he’s even worse than previously thought. That’s the principle: any news about Trump always confirms that he’s a problem, more so than you might have realized before. That’s it.
[Recording End]
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