Mediaboss Marketing

Kurt Andersen

Laura Cavanaugh/Getty Images

Kurt Andersens new book, Fantasyland: How America Went Haywire: A 500-Year History, tackles many of the themes he has written about over the course of his career, including how our politics is influenced by broader trends in American culture and society. Andersen, who hosts a radio show about culture, Studio 360, which recently joined the Slate podcast fold, and co-founded Spy magazine (which was known for, among other things, going after Donald Trump), connects our insane current moment to the timeless idea of American exceptionalism, a creed that he believes always contained a certain naivet and gullibility. Whats worse, he argues, is that this idea became co-mingled with the individualism and selfishness of the 1960shelping to birth Donald Trump and much more. (A long much-debated excerpt from Andersens book appears as the current cover story in the Atlantic.)

Isaac Chotiner is a Slate staff writer.

I spoke by phone with Andersen recently. During the course of our conversation, which has been edited and condensed for clarity, we discussed whether there is a connection between religious belief and conspiracy theories, whether America is crazier than anywhere else, and whether Donald Trump has changed over the past three decades.

Isaac Chotiner: Why has America gone insane?

Kurt Andersen: There are so many reasons. Some of the main strands I follow are extreme religiosity from the beginning, which has effloresced, especially in the last century and especially in the last few decades, into something extraordinary compared to anything else in the developed world.

Individualism is another way we went insane, when individualism got out of control, along with the 1960s, and along with the various forms of show business into which we can imagine ourselves and other beings.

Why do you think the 60s are partially to blame for where we are right now?

Only partially. This excerpt of the book that appeared in the Atlantic this month, thats what they were interested in.

Well the excerpts like 400,000 words.

No, its only 380,000 words. I guess what I believe happened, among all the great things that happened in the 60s, like civil rights and the beginning of womens equality and the fun and everything else, was this new relativism, thats the simplest word, that all forms of truth-finding are equally valid, whether scientific or magical. It became uncool and in some cases impermissible to say, No, thats fine if you want to believe that, but science is superior.

That, in the general sense, began as a thing on the left, to which conservatives at the time were up in arms. One of the things that happened, of course, is that 50 years on, that kind of relativism and that kind of do your own thing, believe your own thing, and have your own truth has consequentially empowered forces and individuals on the right.

OK but what is the causal connection there? Because if it was some sort of causal connection between the relativism in the 60s and the nightmare of our politics today, wouldnt you expect it to impact the left more?

You would if history and culture worked in obvious and predictable ways, but they dont. No, I dont believe that Donald Trump read Foucault and thought, My God, truth is all relative.

Among all the great things that happened in the 60s was this new relativism, thats the simplest word, that all forms of truth-finding are equally valid.

I think we agree on that, yeah.

I do believe that as academic relativism and indeed as countercultural relativism grew in the 60s, two separate but connected things, they so pervasively affected the way Americans think, that that was one thingnot the only thing, perhaps not even the main thingthat empowered and permitted the whatever we want place we are in today, and the, Oh no, I dont believe. I believe that theres some conspiracy of journalists and scientists pretending that climate change is the result of human activities, and/or I believe that some other conspiracy is responsible for the fact that autism is caused by vaccines. I dont want to follow into the Donald Trumpian both sides are at fault. While there are people on the left who fall prey to impossible and implausible and dubious conspiracy theories and science-denying and all the rest, it is highly asymmetrical.

You are talking about people who believe things without reason. Im trying to understand: Is there some data or something that youre looking at that makes you think this is where this trend started, that people became more unreasonable in the 60s?

There is data that Ive looked at extensively and report in the book extensively about the false things that people believe compared to earlier times. No, theres no data that supports my speculative cultural history, that part of how we got herepart, not allis this general abdication by gatekeepers and the establishment in the academy and elsewhere who used to say, No, this is much, much closer to the truth than this, rather than at the beginning to say, No, were not going to do that as much. Is there data or survey research to say that that was part of the cause? No, its my opinion.

In your book you quote a bunch of survey data thats alarming, like about people thinking Obama is the Antichrist, and you write, Why are we like this? The short answer is because were Americansbecause being American means we can believe anything we want; that our beliefs are equal or superior to anyone elses, experts be damned. Once people commit to that approach, the world turns inside out, and no cause-and-effect connection is fixed. The credible becomes incredible and the incredible credible.

The world is full of countries where there is strong religious belief and a strong belief in conspiracies. What is it specifically that you think is American about that rather than this is how human beings are, that we believe weird stuff?

The lines you just read, of course, are from the introductory chapter, so they are meant, just for the record, to be a high gloss that then I would spend 400 pages going into detail about.

I can read the whole book in this interview. We could do that.

Oh, stop. No, but in terms of just the religious stuff, theres this massive set of survey data about how much more religious we are, more prayerful we are, than other developed countries. Im not saying America is so different from Pakistan. Im saying America is different from Canada and Japan and Europe and Australia and the rest of the developed world, and we are, by every measure of religiosity. Again, its not just believe in God or not. Its the very detailed beliefs that we have as a people. That is just the clearest and starkest and most data-proven truth that we are different.

Tocqueville thought we were different than the French 170 years ago, but we have gotten more different. As I said, thats one of the things where its not at all anecdotal or purely anecdotal or speculative or anything else. Its just entirely true.

Is there data or survey research to say that that was part of the cause? No, its my opinion.

Dont the French believe in things like vaccine skepticism more than we do?

There is vaccine skepticism in Europe. Theres no question about that. No, that is not uniquely American. The degree to which American have stopped vaccinating their children was higher than anywhere else. We are the mother country of that. Its not unique to us.

I think of unfounded opinions as falling into two categories. One is religious belief or things like that, which I think are probably pretty deeply held and maybe even partially innate. Then you have a belief like you mentioned earlier, that global warming is fake, which really is not the type of belief that anyone could possibly gain unless they were following very specific news sources that were intent on lying to them. Do you think they are connected?

Yeah, I do, and I think they are synergistic. Climate change is one thing, which of course the Bible doesnt talk about, but on the other hand, there are things that are both. For instance evolution and creationism, and should evolution be taught without creationism in public schools. Thats where, of course, they overlap.

One thing Ill say about what I say about religion. Again, I am not a crusading Richard Dawkinsstyle atheist. I dont know. Maybe God exists. I dont know, so Im not saying, You people who believe in God, youre idiots. I am entirely open to the various shades and flavors and degrees of hunches and religious belief and all that. What I really focus on, and why I focus on it, and why I get down to the specifics of lets look at what most American Protestant Christians believe, is the extremism of these beliefs. Yeah, do you believe in God? Fine. Do you go to church? Great. Do you believe that Jesus was resurrected? OK, whatever. I dont know. I dont, but OK. When we got to faith healing and speaking in tongues and these specifics, which I grant its impolite of me to say, No, this is really nutty, Im sorry. Its important to me to not allow but its my faith to be the cloak that protects every belief that is a matter of faith from criticism, ridicule, doubt.

So yes, of course theyre different, but to me, theyre not entirely different.

Right, but some of the beliefs America has about religion or conspiracy theories are very similar in other parts of the world, whereas I think it would be very hard for any country in the world that did not have a very specific media environment like America has to not believe in global warming. The first thing feels more universal.

I think thats true. We can thank the Kochs, among others, for helping create that media environment. Indeed, I talk a lot about the media environment that has been built, the fantasyland infrastructure, that has built in the last 30 years, which has been crucial for sure. But I think in the simplest, most reductionist way, when you start with a people who are so much more prone to rationally insupportable religious beliefs, it seems natural to me that you will also have a country, partly as a result, in which people are willing to say, Yeah, I dont believe in climate change, either. Yes, of course, a media structure arose to teach them that, but a media structure could arise to teach them that in Denmark, and I dont think youd end up with half of the Danes believing that climate change doesnt exist.

Hopefully that wont happen and we will not be able to test that proposition.

Can you tell me about your personal experiences with our current president, if youve had any? And as someone whos been following him for decades, what do you make of the man you see today and whether theres anything surprising or different to you about where we are?

Ive never met him. I have received letters from him threatening legal action, and massive legal action, of course back when I was running Spy magazine. Other than that, my exchanges with him have just been him saying Im terrible in places like the New York Post. No, Ive never met him, but I have watched him. I did watch him closely and carefully in the late 80s, and early 90s, then stopped for 15 years until six years ago, mostly. People say, Hes always the same person. Hes a racist. As much as he was a jerk thenand occasionally, as in the ad he took out saying that the accused and later exonerated Central Park attackers, which indicates evidence of a racialist animosity or racismthe anger and racism and far-right stuff, there was very little evidence of that back in the day. He was a joke. I think what hes fallen into is because he doesnt believe much of anything; he has instincts, and I think weve seen in the last few days that he has actual instincts about white supremacy, frankly. I dont think he has well-formed beliefs, but he has instincts, guy-at-the-bar angry instincts. That is his thing. That is his fundamental thing.

What about just watching him as a person? The one thing, as someone whos watched a lot of old clips of him on Letterman and Howard Stern, is he seems to have less of a sense of irony now. He was always ridiculous, but he had some sense of himself as a character before, whereas now the mask has fallen or slipped, whatever the phrase is.

I think thats absolutely true. There are many changes. In addition to that fact that he no longer pretends to be in on the joke, and he was always pretending to be in on the joke, but he was more articulate. He seemed happier, frankly. He seemed happier. Look at him. You never see him laugh.

As Slates resident interrogator, Isaac Chotiner has tangled with Newt Gingrich and gotten personal with novelist Jonathan Franzen. Now hes bringing his pointed, incisive interview style to a weekly podcast in which he talks one-on-one with newsmakers, celebrities, and cultural icons.

It was very smart of you to publicize him in Spy magazine, therefore ensuring hell be president, therefore ensuring you can write a book about America going haywire.

Thank you. It was a very long-term plan, and they seldom work out as well as this one.

Well not for the country, but for you.

View original post here:
Are the '60s to Blame for Donald Trump? - Slate Magazine

Since the early days of the 2016 presidential campaign, Liberty University President Jerry Falwell Jr. has been a staunch supporter of Donald Trump. For some students and alumni ofthe evangelical Christian school inLynchburg, Va., Libertys perceived alignment with the president has been a source of shame and anger, a group of graduates wrotelast week.

Last week, manyreached their breaking point. After Trumps equivocation about neo-Nazi groups followingthe violence in Charlottesville, Falwell once again voiced his unwavering support for the president, tweeting that he was so proud of Trump forhis bold truthful statement on the tragedy.

President Trump on Aug. 15 said that "there's blame on both sides" for the violence that erupted in Charlottesville on Aug. 12. (Bastien Inzaurralde/The Washington Post)

In response,Liberty Universitygraduates are calling on fellow alumni to take a stand against by returning their diplomas. They are also writing letters to Falwells office and to the Board of Trustees, calling for his removal.More than 260 people have joined a Facebook group titled Return your diploma to LU.

By publicly revoking all ties, all support present and future, the graduates hope to send a message to the school that could jeopardize future enrollment, finances and funding, according to the Facebook group. They are urging graduates to return their diplomas to Falwells office by Sept. 5.

In addition, several alumni have written letter to university officials calling on Falwell to disavow Trumps statements, NPR reported. In it, the graduates said Falwells characterization of Trumps remarks were incompatible with Liberty Universitys stated values, and incompatible with a Christian witness.

This sort of sends a wake-up call that you cant just align the entire university with Donald Trumps stance on a whim, Chris Gaumer, a former Student Government Association president and a 2006 graduate,told CNN.

[Liberty University students protest association with Trump]

Gaumer wrote on Facebook thatLiberty University graduates are ashamed, embarrassed, horrified. And sending back their diplomas is the least we like minded can do.

On Instagram, he also wrote, Many reasons to return LU degree, like a class called Creation Studies, but no reason more important than Falwell Jr. backing Trump backing white supremacists.

Responding to the students criticism on ABCs The Week Sunday, Falwell attempted to clarify his stance and said the students misunderstood him.

Falwell, who attended law school at the University of Virginia in Charlottesville, said Trump left the door open for the incident to be considered domestic terrorism.

Hehas inside information that I dont have, Falwell said on The Week. I dont know if there were historical purists there who were trying to preserve some statues.

Falwell called the Charlottesville clashes pure evil versus good and said theres no good white supremacist.

I understand how some people could misunderstand his words, Falwell said of Trump. Yes, he could be more polished and politically correct but thats the reason I supported him, because hes not.

Most of Trumps evangelical advisers have refrained from criticizing him for his response to Charlottesville. But on Friday, New York City megachurch pastor A.R. Bernard announced that he had stepped down from the unofficial board of evangelical advisers to Trump, The Washington Posts Sarah Pulliam Bailey reported. Bernards Brooklyn-based Christian Cultural Center, which claims 37,000 in membership, has been described by the New York Times as the largest evangelical church in New York City.

Falwell, son of the late televangelist Jerry Falwell, has served as an essential evangelical voice in support of Trump. In some instances, his university community has followed suit. Students at the school voted overwhelmingly for Trump in November.Of the 3,205 votes cast on campus, Trump took 2,739, while Hillary Clinton received just 140.

As The Posts Joe Heim wrote:

Perhaps no Christian leader in the United States has more closely aligned himself with Trump than Falwell. The Liberty president delivered a glowing tribute to Trump during a campaign visit in January 2016. And his support was critical after the release in October of the Access Hollywood video in which Trump was overheard bragging lewdly about groping and trying to have sex with women. Falwell went to bat for Trump, saying that his comments were reprehensible but that were all sinners, every one of us. Weve all done things we wish we hadnt.

In May,Trump delivered the commencement address to Libertys Class of 2017.

President Trump delivered his first commencement address as president at Liberty University, a Christian school in Lynchburg, Va. (The Washington Post)

Many of the students at Liberty, the nations largest Christian university, have been critical of Trump since before the election. In October, a statement issued by the group Liberty United Against Trump admonished Trump as well as Falwell for defending the then-candidate after he made the vulgar comments about women in the 2005 video. In the weeks that followed, more than 2,000 Liberty students and faculty signed the statement.

Falwell has shown himself to be unabashedly in service of money and power, at the expense of others, not of the message of the gospel he claims, Liberty graduates wrote in the Facebook group for the diploma return protest.He is unfit to lead any institution, but particularly one that professes a moral, ethical, or religious mission.

Many graduates on social media declared their intentions to join the protest and write their own letters to university officials.

Truth is, Ive been ashamed of the source of my diploma since long before Jerry Jr. started backing Trump, one alumna, Lauren Martin Day, wrote on Facebook.Grateful to know there are some other sensible alums decrying that deplorable institution.

She added that she took Liberty University off her resume over a decade ago and never looked back.

In a similar vein, 2002 graduate Rebekah Tilleytold NPR that she no longer wanted to be associated with her alma mater because the name can be so loaded.

Theres such a strong affiliation now between Liberty University and President Trump that you know that reflects badly on all alumni, Tilley said.

Not everyone supported the efforts to return diplomas. Some stood byFalwell, and others criticized the students as snowflakes.

Phil Wagner, who received both his bachelors and masters from Liberty University, told NPR that he disagrees with the presidents comments, he wont be sending back hisdegrees.I earned it, Wagner said. I worked hard for it. But he does plan to send a respectful letter to university officials, he added.

The affiliation between Trump and Falwellis even affecting some prospective students.

Chadwick Brawley, who identified himself as an African American Christian Worship Pastor, wrote that he had beenexcited about enrolling in the Doctor of Worship program at Liberty this month.

Postingon Libertys official Facebook page, Brawley wrote that Christian leaders had a valuable opportunity after the hatred, bigotry and violence in Charlottesville to take a stand.

You used your platform to escalate hate and further divide, Brawley wrote to Falwell. Supporting President Trumps lamentable response to the situation showed me who you are, what you support and how youre aligned politically and spiritually. Because of who I am, I find it extremely difficult to align myself with you and Liberty University. The search begins for other schools at which I may apply; schools that will appreciate my African-American heritage, perspective, gifts, genius and money.

More from Morning Mix

KKK leader threatens to burn Latina journalist, the first black person on his property

Jerry Lewis telethons raised billions for muscular dystrophy. Many cheered when he went off the air.

The rise and fall of Miamis CEO of Purple Drank

A woman in India just won a divorce because her husband failed to provide her a toilet. Thats huge.

Read the original:
Liberty University graduates return diplomas because of support for Trump by Jerry Falwell Jr. - Washington Post

Donald and Melania Trump announced Saturday that they would not attend this year's Kennedy Center Honors ceremony, which will honor LL Cool J, Lionel Richie, Gloria Estefan, TV producer Norman Lear and dancer-choreographer Carmen de Lavallade.

"Each year, the Kennedy Center honors the careers and achievements of artists who have helped shape cultural life in the United States with a weekend that includes celebrations and events," the White House said Saturday in a statement.

"The president and first lady have decided not to participate in this year's activities to allow the honorees to celebrate without any political distraction. First lady Melania Trump, along with her husband President Donald J. Trump,extend their sincerest congratulations and well wishes to all of this year's award recipients for their many accomplishments."

The event is scheduled for December 3rd at Washington, D.C.'s Kennedy Center, with a broadcast date of December 26th. At the event, celebrating its 40th anniversary, honorees are usually seated with the current President and First Lady of the United States.

Skipping D.C. traditions has become a tradition in itself for Trump, who in April opted not to attend the annual White House Correspondents Dinner.

Trump's decision comes just days after both Lear and de Lavallade said in separate statements that, while they would attend the Kennedy Center Honors ceremony, they were skipping the pre-ceremony reception for honorees at the White House, the New York Times reports.

"In light of the socially divisive and morally caustic narrative that our current leadership is choosing to engage in, and in keeping with the principles that I and so many others have fought for, I will be declining the invitation to attend the reception at the White House," de Lavallade said in a statement.

Lear said he would forego the ceremony because of Trump "has chosen to neglect totally the arts and humanities deliberately defund them and that doesn't rest pleasantly with me."

Richie also admitted he was considering boycotting the event. "I'm gonna just play it by ear," Richie toldTodayTuesday. "I must tell you, I'm not really happy with what's going on right now with the controversies. They're weekly, daily, hourly." A rep for Richie did not respond to a question on if the singer will attend this year's event.

When the Kennedy Center honorees were announced in early August, both LL Cool J and Estefan expressed apprehension about attending the ceremony with Trump.

"I don't have any stunts planned. I'm not saying I need to be there backslapping and all of that, but this time, this one ain't about him," the rapper said in a statement, alluding to Trump. "I'm not going to block my blessings or let the political divide stop me from embracing my art. I'm banking on the goodness and the optimism of people to say: 'You know what? I get it. Let this guy have this honor.'"

Estefan, "a proud immigrant," said in a statement that she would "make clear and express" her views on immigration to Trump. The Cuban-born singer added, "To get this kind of award is so American."

Following the Trumps' decision to not attend the ceremony, the Kennedy Center Honors said in a statement Saturday, "The Kennedy Center respects the decision made today by the office of the President of the United States. In choosing not to participate in this year's Honors activities, the Administration has graciously signaled its respect for the Kennedy Center and ensures the Honors gala remains a deservingly special moment for the Honorees. We are grateful for this gesture."

Sign up for our newsletter to receive breaking news directly in your inbox.

Read more here:
Donald Trump Won't Attend Kennedy Center Honors Ceremony - RollingStone.com

NEW YORK, NY - AUGUST 15: US President Donald Trump speaks following a meeting on infrastructure at Trump Tower, August 15, 2017 in New York City. He fielded questions from reporters about his comments on the events in Charlottesville, Virginia and white supremacists. (Drew Angerer Getty Images

During his campaign for president, Donald Trump boasted of business prowess, vowing to bring in top executives to help him revive the economy and to personally lobby corporate chiefs to keep jobs in the U.S.

Those CEOs are now abandoning him in a humiliating snub for a president who took great pleasure in summoning corporate titans to the White House and trying to get them to bend to his will.

After widespread criticism for remarks that appeared to confer legitimacy on white supremacists, Trump is facing a mass exodus of the CEOs he once courted, a public repudiation that undermines his image as a businessman and could threaten his policy agenda on everything from taxes to trade.

Trump said Wednesday hes disbanding two advisory groups of American business leaders, after several CEOs quit this week and more were preparing to resign in the wake of his comments that some very fine people were among neo-Nazis protesting at a violent rally in Charlottesville last weekend.

The weeks events threaten to forever tarnish Trumps credentials as a business president, undermining a foundation of his political appeal and weakening the Republican partys core alliance with business interests for as long as he leads the party. The political damage compounds the risk the GOP faces in 2018 midterm elections.

Corporate executives are now making a pragmatic calculation that a Republican presidents brand has become too toxic, said Carlos Gutierrez, chairman of Albright Stonebridge Group, a Washington international strategy firm that advises businesses.

Theres always the risk that CEOs will not have their brand associated with administration initiatives, which is extremely dangerous for the presidents agenda, said Gutierrez, who served as Commerce Secretary under President George W. Bush. The president will need the business community but the business community would rather stay out of the White House.

On Thursday, the Cleveland Clinic announced that after careful consideration, it wouldnt hold its annual fundraiser at Trumps Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida in 2018. The clinics board had been under pressure after almost 1,700 medical students, doctors, nurses and others criticized its use of Mar-a-Lago in an open letter last month. Holding a hospital fundraiser there symbolically and financially supports a politician actively working to decrease access to health care and cut billions of dollars in research funding, the letter said.

Cleveland Clinic CEO Toby Cosgrove had served on the Presidents Strategic and Policy Forum before Trump disbanded it.

Trump opened his presidency highlighting his relationships with titans of industry, regularly bringing in camera crews and reporters to show the nation a president leading discussions that included some of the best-known names in business. The American Manufacturing Council and Strategic and Policy Forum, both disbanded Wednesday, were each heavily promoted during the first days of his presidency, as the White House sought to show its focus on boosting the economy.

Business leaders would often flank the president in the Oval Office as he signed legislation and announced new orders.

With the Republican party in control of the White House, and both houses of Congress, the constant stream of business executives visiting the West Wing was presented by the White House as evidence that Trumps agenda for boosting the economy was in full swing.

Now, as Congress has struggled to pass legislation during the Trump era, the chaos surrounding the White House has served to further undermine Republicans image in the eyes of a risk-averse business community, according to strategists and experts.

Graham Wilson, a Boston University professor who studies the intersection of business and politics, said the scale and depth of feeling in opposition to Trumps statements is too large for executives to ignore.

Standing with Trump at this moment, after his bizarre comments, is just too costly for corporations, Wilson said. This signal from corporate America could also have a broader impact on public opinion and the loyalty of core Republicans to Trump.

Some business-oriented Republicans who had been swallowing very hard over some of Trumps stranger statements now may break away, Wilson said.

Republican officeholders must not just condemn the violence by white-supremacist groups, they must repudiate the position Trump has taken or slide into the moral abyss with him, said Republican strategist Steve Schmidt, who was a top adviser for 2008 presidential nominee John McCain.

Republicans who believe that the possibility of tax reform outweighs the urgent civic necessity of condemning white supremacy extremism and Nazism are as morally obtuse as Trump and are likely to pay a very steep political price, he said.

The public spat between Trump and CEOs comes as the White House and the Republican-led Congress are looking to advance an overhaul of the tax code.

I dont see any business thats going to want to partner with the president on an initiative, said Leslie Dach, a strategic communications consultant in Washington. Because the chance of it bringing them grief is large and the short-term upside is slim.

Even before the controversy surrounding his statements about the events in Charlottesville and the collapse of the economic council, Trumps standing in Gallups daily tracking poll was already near an all-time low for his presidency. Just 36 percent of Americans said they approve of the job hes doing, while 58 percent disapprove, in the poll taken Aug. 13-15.

Kevin Madden, a Republican strategist who was a senior adviser to Mitt Romney in the 2012 presidential campaign, said all is not lost for Trump and his relations with corporate America.

The community still has an interest in collaborating on an economic agenda, but they are certainly sending a message, Madden said. This is a different era, where businesses and CEOs are as focused on communicating their companys values in addition to caring about their bottom line.

To the extent businesses back Trump initiatives, it is now more likely to be transactional: one-time support for specific policies that directly help them. Conversely, Trump, who has pushed policies on immigration and trade that are unpopular in the business community, could also see more executives willing to speak out against him when they disagree with his agenda, said Gutierrez.

Businesses had been somewhat reluctant--they dont want to be on the wrong side of the administration, they dont want to be the subject of a tweet, he said. I think that that is quickly fading away."

The blow up may be a sign of things to come. The reality is that the capital has become more challenging terrain for corporate leaders, who take great pains to stay away from controversy, as populists squeeze out pro-business moderates in both the Republican and Democratic parties.

Washington, whether it is on the right or the left, is a risky place right now, said Sam Geduldig, a former Republican congressional aide and now a partner at CGCN Group, a lobbying firm. It is not a place for the weak or the timid.

Continue reading here:
Trump's Pro-Business Image Tarnished as CEOs Abandon Him - Fortune

(WASHINGTON) President Donald Trump's racially fraught comments about a deadly neo-Nazi rally have thrust into the open some Republicans' deeply held doubts about his competency and temperament, in an extraordinary public airing of worries and grievances about a sitting president by his own party.

Behind the high-profile denunciations voiced this week by GOP senators once considered Trump allies, scores of other, influential Republicans began to express grave concerns about the state of the Trump presidency. In two dozen interviews with Associated Press reporters across nine states, Republican politicians, party officials, advisers and donors expressed worries about whether Trump has the self-discipline and capability to govern successfully.

Eric Cantor, the former House minority leader from Virginia, said Republicans signaled this week that Trump's handling of the Charlottesville protests was "beyond just a distraction."

"It was a turning point in terms of Republicans being able to say, we're not even going to get close to that," Cantor said.

Chip Lake, a Georgia-based GOP operative who did not vote for Trump in the general election, raised the prospect of the president leaving office before his term is up.

"It's impossible to see a scenario under which this is sustainable under a four-year period," Lake said.

Trump's handling of the protests in Charlottesville, Virginia, has shaken his presidency unlike any of the other self-created crises that have rattled the White House during his seven months in office. Business leaders have bolted from White House councils, wary of being associated with the president. Military leaders distanced themselves from Trump's assertion that "both sides" the white supremacists and the counter-protesters were to blame for the violence that left one protester dead. And some members of Trump's own staff were outraged by his combative assertion that there were "very fine people" among those marching with the white supremacists, neo-Nazis and KKK members.

Importantly, the Republicans interviewed did not line up behind some course of action or an organized break with the president. Some expressed hope the recent shakeup of White House advisers might help Trump get back in control of his message and the GOP agenda.

Still, the blistering and blunt statements from some Republicans have marked a new phase. Until now, the party has largely kept its most troubling doubts about Trump to whispered, private conversations, fearful of alienating the president's loyal supporters and upending long-sought GOP policy goals.

Tennessee Sen. Bob Corker, the chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee and a foreign policy ally of the Trump White House, delivered the sharpest criticism of Trump, declaring that the president "has not yet been able to demonstrate the stability nor some of the competence that he needs to" in dealing with crises.

Corker's comments were echoed in the interviews with two dozen Republican officials after Trump expressed his views in Tuesday's press conference. More than half spoke on the record, while the others insisted on anonymity in order to speak candidly about the man who leads their party and remains popular with the majority of GOP voters.

A handful defended Trump without reservation. South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster, an early supporter of the president, said he "proudly" stands with Trump and said he was succeeding despite a "constant barrage of negative attacks from the left."

But others said recent events had shifted the dynamic between the president and his party.

"I was never one that was convinced that the president had the character to lead this nation, but I was certainly willing to stand by the president on critical issues once he was elected," said Clarence Mingo, a Republican state treasurer candidate in Ohio. "Now, even where good conservative policies are concerned, that progress is all negated because of his inability to say and do the right things on fundamental issues."

In Kentucky, Republican state senator Whitney Westerfield called Trump's comments after the Charlottesville protests "more than a gaffe."

"I'm concerned he seems to firmly believe in what he's saying about it," Westerfield said.

Trump has survived criticism from establishment Republicans before, most notably when GOP lawmakers across the country distanced themselves from him in the final weeks of the campaign following the release of a video in which the former reality television star is heard making predatory sexual comments about women. Many of those same lawmakers ultimately voted for Trump and rallied around his presidency after his stunning victory.

GOP efforts to align with Trump have largely been driven by political realities. The president still commands loyalty among his core supporters, though some recent polls have suggested a slight weakening there. And while his style is often controversial, many of his statements are often in line with those voters' beliefs, including his support after Charlottesville for protecting Confederate monuments.

Brian Westrate, a small business owner in western Wisconsin who is also chairman of the 3rd Congressional District Republican Party, said Trump supporters long ago decided to embrace the unconventional nature of his presidency.

"I don't think that anything has fundamentally changed between now and when the election was," he said. "The president remains an ill-artful, ill-timed speaker who uses Twitter too often. That's not new. ... The president is still the same guy and the left is still the same left."

Some White House officials do privately worry about slippage in Trump's support from congressional Republicans, particularly in the Senate. GOP senators couldn't cobble together the 50 votes needed to pass a health care overhaul and that same math could continue to be a problem in the fall, as Republicans work on reforming the tax code, which is realistically the party's last opportunity to pass major legislation in 2017.

Tom Davis, a Republican state senator representing a coastal South Carolina district, said that when Trump can move beyond the crisis of the moment, he articulates policies that could help the country's economic situation. But Davis said Trump is also part of the reason not much progress has been made.

"To his discredit, he's been maddeningly inconsistent in advancing those policies, which is part of the reason so little has been accomplished in our nation's capital these past six months," Davis said.

Mike Murphy, a veteran Republican strategist who most recently tried to help Jeb Bush win the 2016 GOP presidential primary, said the early optimism some Republicans felt about their ability to leverage Trump's presidency has all but evaporated in the days following the Charlottesville protests.

"Most party regulars have gone from an initial feeling of guarded optimism that Trump would be able to stumble along while Mitch (McConnell) and (Paul) Ryan do the big lifting and pass our Republican agenda to a current feeling of deep frustration and despair," Murphy said.

View original post here:
GOP Doubts and Anxieties About Trump Burst Into the Open - TIME