Birther Breach: Trump’s Annotated Plays

September 19, 2016

Last week, Donald Trump’s poisonous campaign to call President Obama’s American birthright into question came back to bite him. Flanked by military veterans and against the backdrop of his newly-opened Trump D.C. hotel, The Donald finally admitted, flatly, that Barack Obama was born on American soil. But not without claiming another falsehood — that Hillary started it — and that he, heroically, had finished it.

As shown below, Trump’s “alpha” or master play was easily identified in The Standard Table of Influence as a framing (i.e., re-framing) strategy that served to advance his preferred version of the matter.

But it didn’t go as planned. Outside his lathered base, there was universal upset at Trump’s blatant dodge and his continuing refusal to apologize for the hate and bigotry he has fomented. The real estate developer’s campaign statement, annotated below, serves as a blueprint to the supporting or “beta” plays he attempted to run — seven influence strategies in 182 words.

 

Logically, nothing worked for Trump. Intellectually, it was a disaster. But strategically, Trump’s transparent plays created a narrative he’ll stand by and that, apparently, his supporters will buy. In 2016, there’s no accounting for truth and framing plays are fair game, however fantastic.

 

Post by Alan Kelly

Graphics courtesy of Playmaker Systems, LLC