GEORGE FLOYD: PRESIDENT TRUMP'S MESSAGE WAS LOST IN TRANSLATION.

ICHEOKU says previous administrations usually employ spinmeisters who go on every available television show and radio stations to, when needed, explain what the president said or convince Americans that what they heard the president misstate or said wrongly was not exactly what they heard. That way, they clean up after the president and repair whatever damage which may have occurred or that was threatening, as a result of what the president said. But President Donald John Trump is somewhat a man alone president as it appears that he does not trust anybody to speak for him or does not believe that anybody is good enough to clean up his misstatement. This is probably the reason he is permanently glued on the spotlight, doing it by himself, frequently making statements which are being overly examined by his critics unlike any other president before him. 

ICHEOKU says the president should try and limit his appearances on television and also guard what he says to avoid the associated ruckus. In fact, this his fixture on television is beginning to rile up even some people who support the president and it needs to stop or be reduced to a minimum, only when it becomes absolutely necessary for him to show up. The president should endeavor to allow professionals speak for him sometimes, especially in matters that require middle of the road nuancing; otherwise he might succeed in further alienating some people before November 3rd gets here. For example his "looting and shooting" comment was avoidable and unnecessarily divisive. But a well oiled spinmeisters could have easily clarified it as meaning shooting being a necessary concomitant to looting as street gangs might cash in on the unruly situation to unleash their mayhem. Even the other misspeak of "injecting disinfectant" was another avoidable speak which would not have occurred had the president left the Taskforce to handle the briefing. 

The president's problem is that he does not seem to understand or does not care that there is a difference between speaking to his supporters and speaking to the nation, hence he does not usually distinguish nor inflects his tone accordingly, as a specific situation might demand. The president does not utilize the craft of speaking as a president, presidents speak to everyone, both those who voted for them and those who did not. The president is a good campaigner without a doubt, but speaking to his political base is different from speaking to the whole country, which includes those who did not vote for him, those who are weighing their choices this November and also those who even find the president detestable. He does not speak like a president who wants to increase his voters by winning over more converts and reassuring those who are suspicious of him that their concerns will be addressed in order to assuage their fears. 

The president does not have to be a good orator to do this, but he needs to inculcate some empathy and also master the political tactic of sharing in the sorrow and grief of the people. People need to be reassured in times of great tribulations such as the ongoing coronavirus plague, the latest George Floyd killing and the great economic challenges facing them that everything will be alright. But unfortunately, the president lacks the required tactical skill which oftentimes comes with longevity in politics, to master this clever art of communicating to a politically diverse people in times of trouble. Some non politicians even train for this manner of speaking and are often hired as consultants and spinmeisters by politicians, to help them freshen out statements which did not come out as intended or which although intended, did not sit well with the people. Their job being to spin it around to sit well with the people. The president is not a good pupil of this because of his limited time in politics and his general background did not equip him with that either. 

Also the president's love for the limelight is almost nearing an addiction level, which makes him to always want to be seen and heard, even when it is not necessarily needed and sometimes over trifle things which his spokesperson would have ordinarily taken care of. Even his incessant tweeting is now becoming emblematic that ICHEOKU says the president should consider reducing his tweeting, instead of the current face-off with Twitter which he is not winning. ICHEOKU has always wondered what will happen should Twitter decide to suspend the president's account or block him for few hours or even delete his account? The president should try and discipline his love for television appearances and trim his tweeting at least for the remainder of the campaign months. This will help him firm his standing before the American people and also make some people forget so many of his misstatements and forgive their misgivings against the president. 

Empathy is an asset which either the president lacks or does not know how to show it. George Bush's famous statement at Ground Zero, "I hear you and very soon the people that knocked down these buildings will soon hear from you", was such an effective communication in empathy and a nation then in peril heard him. They were reassured that their president will protect them and that he was going to do something about what happened. That was what the people needed to hear from their president at that time of great fear and President George Bush delivered on it, regardless of the eventual outcome of its implementation. But so far, during this coronavirus pandemic, the unemployment induced economic suffering and now George Floyd's murder and the resulting protest, the president has not reassuringly spoken to the nation in a manner that will reduced the heightened fear and anxiety in the land. 

But whether the president understands the imperative to reassure the nation that he is on top of the three situational problems and will do whatever it takes to make all the bad things go away is but anyone's guess. ICHEOKU says is not very optimistic that the nation will see a changed president any time soon because he is not cut in that cloth. ICHEOKU prays that the president will allow people trained in the art of communication to help him get through this moment and that the president only makes appearances and speaks, when absolutely necessary for him to do so. A time like this required placing the country above self and the display of the utmost concern about the welfare of the people; including reassurances that everything will be okay and that the government is on top of the situation. But it seems that the president listens to nobody and that those around him, including his wife First Lady Melania Trump, either do not advise him or he does not heed their advise. 

It was the same love of the limelight that hurt the president badly with the coronavirus pandemic when he hijacked the daily briefings of the Presidential Coronavirus Taskforce and many things went wrong with perception as a result. Instead of leaving the team he put in place to handle the briefings, the president inserted himself in it and with it made a lot of regrettable misstatements including the ingestion of disinfectant. His daily appearances showed him as being overtly defensive, combative, callous and not showing the required empathy for a nation that is hurting badly and was looking for a consoler in chief, who unfortunately was not available. Instead of showing the country that he shares their pain, he busied himself with selectively taking credit for things that went right and passing the buck on the many things that went awry. It was not what the country needed but the president failed to understand that and it is hurtful. 

In such situations, a seasoned political operator would have been more circumspect, more empathic and showed great understanding that too many people perished in the coronavirus pandemic and that their loved ones are not interested in what the president possibly got right since their loved ones did not benefit from it by surviving. The same lack of empathy was again shown with the millions of people who lost their jobs and who can hardly feed their children now. The stimulus checks notwithstanding, there is no constant messaging to these people that all will eventually be well and that the president is doing everything he can to make their situations better. Then enter the George Floyd's killing and people were expecting the president to show them that everything will be alright, but met a president who is tweeting about MAGA loving black people as if telling those black people who identify with MAGA that they are not welcomed to the fold. It is also a fact that not all those protesting were black people, but an ill conceived tweet portrayed the president in a bad light as a white biased president who sees everything as a "we and them" situation. 

ICHEOKU says nobody was expecting the president to undo what was done, only to show some sincerity that he understands their pain and that he will do whatever it takes to ameliorate their problem. But his messaging were lost in badly worded tweets and now people have left the Minnesota Democrats whose police office triggered everything and are now blaming the president for what he did not do nor had a hand in doing. Anyway, lets hope that the needle will somewhat move with the president  and he sees the wisdom in stepping aside from the podium and allow his spokes people to do their job. ICHEOKU says  the president also needs to reengage the services of some spinmeister, including Steve Bannon, and allow them get back on the airwaves, pushing his reelection and rephrasing whatever the president says that comes out wrongly or as unfeeling, heartless and callous. #BringBackSteveBannon.