TJ Walker breaks down Steve Mandel's denial in a Steve Bannon interview, calling it a PR disaster. Mandel said "it's possible... but I did not," which Walker says repeats the allegation and makes his client look guilty. The right way to deny something is to shut it down cleanly, not hedge.
And the worst soundbite of the week goes to Steve Mandel, who is an attorney for Steve Bannon, who was head of Breitbart News and is now the CEO of the Donald Trump for President campaign. A little background. Steve Bannon went through, apparently a messy divorce, allegations of spousal abuse 20 some years ago. And the allegation from Mr. Bannon's former wife was, and this is according to the New York Times, she said that Mr. Bannon's lawyer, quote, threatened me and told her that she would, quote, have no money and no way to support the children. When the attorney was asked about this, here's what he said. This is Steve Mandel, the attorney. He said, it's possible that Steve Bannon said that, but I did not. Now, that is one of the worst denials I've ever heard in my entire life because it certainly makes it look like it was a strategy cooked up by the lawyer and the client. First of all is a basic axiom of media training and media interview techniques. You don't put forth everything that's possible. If someone asks my lawyer, is it possible TJ Murdered his next door neighbor? You don't say, well, it's possible he murdered his next door neighbor. But I didn't. As his lawyer, a million things are possible. Is it possible TJ Is a complete chowderhead? Well, it's possible he's a complete chowder head, but I myself am not an idiot. First of all, it makes Steve Bannon and his lawyer look guilty, number one. Number two, he's repeating the negatives of saying these inflammatory things. If, in fact, the attorney didn't say it, he should have simply said, I did not say that, rather than talk about every possibility his client might have had in private phone conversations. Classic, classic blunder. You do not entertain hypotheticals about all sorts of negative things that someone might have done when you weren't in the room. PR Blunder of the week goes to not Steve Bannon, but his lawyer.
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