Trump and the media

Wherever else one might say about Donald Trump, I can't help having a modicum of grudging admiration for his campaign, specifically the way he plays the media for fools.

The trick is this:

1. Say something utterly outrageous
2. Get interviewed on all the major television channels
3. When questioned about that outrageous statement, make a completely different point
4. When pressed again about that outrageous statement, make another completely different point
5. (He now has gotten a minute or more of completely free air time that would otherwise have cost him millions) 
6. Finally, either lie, or back away from the original statement that got him the interview time.    

What's depressing is the way reputedly sophisticated news anchors like George Stephanopoulos let themselves be tricked into this. Trump managed to make a variety of completely unrelated points while Stephanopoulos pressed him on his statement about George W Bush and 911.

Perhaps the best media response was, ironically, on the Late Show with Stephen Colbert:

Colbert:	"Of course, Donald Trump had to have the last word".
Clip of Donald Trump:	"So I just wrote this out very quickly about the Pope - do you want to hear it"?
Colbert:	"No".

And he moved straight on to introduce the rest of the show.