Hope the unexpected strength behind Trump’s campaign, by Caroline Overington.
Hicks was just 26 when she became Trump’s press secretary last year and she’d had no experience at all in politics — none. …
Reporters who tried to find out more about her came up empty-handed, because she doesn’t give interviews about herself, and who can blame her? The one time she did let the press in, she was made to look like an idiot. [See video below.]
Trump’s hanger campaign stops:
She was behind much of what proved a winning campaign idea: Trump would hop in the Trump plane, and fly somewhere where he’d disembark, but wouldn’t leave the hangar. He’d get out of the plane wearing his Make America Great Again hat, and wave at the crowd of supporters from the steps.
Trump would come down and address the crowd. He gave the same speech every time: “We are going to win. Don’t believe those people in the back of the room. The media. They are the most corrupt people in America.’’
Journalists behind the rope would wince, or look bemused. The crowd would turn and jeer.
These rallies were always shown live. After 30 minutes or so, Trump would get back on the plane, and fly somewhere else to do it all again. Towards the end of his campaign, he was doing five stops a day and getting five or more hours of free TV as a result.
This was an absolutely brilliant strategy for at least two reasons: first, no hecklers in the crowd, as happens when you leave the hangar. Second, no interviews. No way for Trump to put his foot in it, or say something offensive, or display any ignorance.
