TJ Walker analyzes Senator John McCain's handling of media questions about President-elect Donald Trump, calling McCain's public criticism of reporters a "soundbite blunder" because it amplifies the unwanted topic. Walker recommends using brief, bland, non‑emotional answers to deflect attention and offers example responses and general advice for public figures and executives.
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Senator John McCain made one of the classic media blunders you can make earlier this week. SOUNDBITE BLUNDER OF the DAY he apparently is sick and tired of having to answer questions about President elect Donald Trump. Now I can understand why John McCain was no fan of Donald Trump, essentially called him a shameless demagogue and now he's the Republican president. So completely understandable why John McCain is irked, especially since John McCain thinks he would be a much better president, having run for president several times. But here's the problem with John McCain's strategy. He started basically criticizing reporters for asking questions about Donald Trump. He's basically saying it's outrageous. Here's one of the things he said recently. On the 1st of January, I promised to start answering these stupid, idiotic questions. Well, by calling questions stupid and idiotic, you put a spotlight on them. Those are attacking words, therefore they're quotable words. Therefore John McCain is drawing more attention to the fact that he doesn't want to talk about Donald Trump. If you don't want to talk about Donald Trump, I'll give you stay tuned to tips on how to not talk about Donald Trump and how not to be quoted in the media about the whole issue. Here's what he told the Huffington Post of why he's so outraged because that's all the conversation is about. I've said everything that I have to say about him and I'm focused on my job, which is defending this nation, not commenting on every move Donald Trump makes. Again, his blunder. Every move Donald Trump makes is something he's saying with emotion. It's an absolute specific example, pop culture reference and implied attack. So he has five soundbite elements in that particular quote. Here's the problem, folks. If you don't want to talk about something to the media, there is an art for not talking about it. My Recommendation to John McCain and my recommendation to you if you find yourself in this situation is you need to have an answer that's brief, that's bland and that at some level satisfies the reporter. And so a fair minded person who heard the question and heard the answer would feel that you've been responsive at some level. So if I were John McCain and I were asked about you, what do you think of the latest Donald Trump tweet? I would say something innocuous like, I don't know, we'll have to really see more when things come to light in January when he assumes office, something like that. Or what do you think of Donald Trump's tax plan I'd be happy to talk to you more once I learn more come January. Something short, one sentence that isn't calling the reporter a moron, that isn't acting upset. That doesn't make a reporter and an audience envision steam coming out of your head, if that's what you want to do, to minimize attention to the issue. That's my strategy from time to time. If you're in public life or high profile executive in a major corporation or UN office, there are going to be times when you may be asked things that you don't want to talk about. That's fair game. We can't control what reporters ask, but you can control your answer. If you act angry, upset and attacking, you're just going to put a bigger spotlight on the thing you don't want. The secret answer in a brief way, a bland way, and it just becomes a lot less interesting to everybody.
