Trump campaign COO: Unscripted moments part of Republican nominee’s appeal
Aug 10, 2016, 3:48 PM
Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump speaks during a campaign rally at Windham High School, Saturday, Aug. 6, 2016, in Windham, N.H. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)
(AP Photo/Evan Vucci)
Part of Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump’s appeal to voters is his unscripted moments that go against the typical polished speeches of politicians, his campaign COO said Wednesday.
Trump campaign COO and Arizona Treasurer Jeff DeWit said supporters love Trump’s unplanned moments — no matter the negative press they generate — because those prove he’s ready to do things differently in Washington, D.C.
“Here’s the thing: Would we take the Hillary (Clinton) way and the normal politician way? No,” he told KTAR News 92.3 FM’s Mike Russell and Pamela Hughes.
“Is he unscripted? Yes. That’s part of the allure is we are getting a successful businessman who wants to do it different.”
DeWit said Trump’s latest unscripted moment — a comment during a speech concerning the Supreme Court and the Second Amendment some took to be an intimation toward violence — can be easily explained away.
“He’s just saying, ‘Look, the Second Amendment people need to get out and vote,’” DeWit said.
But therein lies the problem for the Trump campaign. DeWit said it’s common for he and other staffers to watch a speech and believe Trump did well, only to watch the mass media pick it apart and flip the speech on its head.
“The hard part is this … there’s always, no matter what we say, there are things where people can clip it,” he said. “Clip the front, clip the back and pick these little phrases and they can use them and misconstrue them.”
Despite the public opposition — which DeWit blamed on Clinton supporters within the media — he supports Trump’s freewheeling approach to politics.
“It’s unscripted and you’ll have things you’re not prepared for – everyone does – but that has really been one of the key reasons as to why he won the nomination,” he said.
And DeWit said Trump supporters feel the same way. They no longer want a polished politician along the lines of Clinton. Instead, they want someone who says it like it is, slips of the tongue aside.
“We want something unscripted,” DeWit said. “We want something unfiltered. We want someone who says it like it is. You may not agree with everything he says, but he’s telling you the truth.”
