Messaging Memo: How to respond to questions about Trump controversies
U.S. Sen. Thom Tillis criticized Trump's pardons of J6ers who assaulted officers. It raises the question: When do you punt, and when do you take a stand?
It’s one of the laziest forms of pack journalism. Important Figure A says something, and reporters rush to ask other important figures what they think about the comment. Every response becomes its own news story designed to sow controversy and clicks.
It’s extremely common in the world of sports, and now with President Donald Trump back in office it will be back in style among the D.C. and Raleigh press corps.
The first big example came this week as Trump offered a blanket pardon for most people who participated in the January 6, 2001, riot at the Capitol and commuted the sentences to time served for others.
Media members rushed to ask congressmen what they thought. North Carolina’s senior senator was no exception. While U.S. Sen. Thom Tillis said he thought many of the people deserved a pardon, he criticized clemency for people who injured law enforcement that day.
"Anybody who is convicted of assault on a police officer, I can't get there, at all. I think it was a bad idea,” Tillis tol…