In crisis communications, generally, the number of people who hear, notice, and read about your post- event explanation is much greater than the number who witnessed the true crisis, so if you you control the post- event narrative, you can control public opinion. The roll determines how we eventually feel about the event, and it is secondary to it.
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Not just because the market size prevented the Trump-Biden political conversation from taking place, but it did not.
In reality, it’s rewrite- proof. Here’s why:
Your vote is really not up for grabs if your employment, self-identity, and/or party affiliation are determined by how you perceive politicians or events. You ca n’t change people’s minds when their wallets and/or hearts wo n’t allow it. Therefore, forget about the extreme Democrats and entrenched Not Trumpers for the second, for PR reasons, they’re useless.
However, you must travel back in time and know everything else before you can understand everything.
Over the past 50 years, the three GOP presidential prospects that the Left has most hated were Donald Trump, Ronald Reagan, and George W. Bush – in that order. Basically, the animosity and invective that’s now heaped on Trump is frighteningly similar to the Left’s unyielding, teeth- grinding hatred of Reagan. Time and distance have softened their barbs, and perhaps in hindsight, Reagan does n’t seem as threatening anymore, but during the 1980s, Reagan was an “amicable dunce” who loathed the poor, was destroying America, shredded the Constitution, and his cowboy ways would undoubtedly lead to nuclear Armageddon. To them, Reagan was actually the Devil. ( And that’s no understatement: They also pointed out that each of Ronald Wilson Reagan’s brands has six letters—6- 6- 6!
This , was the political- social landscape when Lesley Stahl of CBS made a remarkable discovery.  ,
When CBS ( and the rest of the popular media ) assumed the role of impartial objectivity when they were actually blatantly criticizing the Right while cheering the Left, they did so in 1984. In order to achieve this, Stahl aired a statement on CBS News that completely blasted Reagan for trying to take credit for things he always did by lying about his plans, trying to take credit for things he always did, and trying to take credit for things he always did.
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” It was, I’ll get honest with you, a very strong report”, Stahl acknowledged – which is D. C. speak, of course, for a cruel, over- the- top, no- holds- barred attack on conservatives.
In truth, it was so heartening and quite brutal that Stahl worried that none of her White House contacts would actually speak to her again.
But then something happened that stunned Stahl, leaving her flabbergasted:
An official from Reagan’s White House called her, sincerely (! ) thanking her for the “great element” she aired.
It … just did n’t make any sense to Stahl. Had n’t they seen her report?! She actually blurted to the official,” You’ll have to explain this]their positive feedback ] to me”.
And then the standard told her that while her tone- overs were blasting Reagan and pillorying him for being unscrupulous, indifferent, cruel, cruel, etc. (you know, the usual ), they were also showing images of Reagan visiting old people in an assisted- living facility, attending the Special Olympics, and looking ( appropriately enough ) Reaganesque. He was smiling, balloons were lifted high in the air, American flags were being waved, and Reagan was beaming from ear to ear, brimming with energy, vigor, and confidence.
” Oh, Lesley”, the official told her,” the American people do n’t listen to what you say, they only see those great pictures of Ronald Reagan. And while you were yammering away, we saw those wonderful pictures”.
When a major event happens, it’s not the event itself that we most remember. Instead, we remember how the event made us feel. It’s our emotional reflections that matter most. THIS is how audiences truly process information.
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Respectfully, when it comes to PR, Ben Shapiro is almost exactly wrong, in truth,” Feelings do n’t care about your facts”.
For President Biden, it’s the images– and, specifically, how the audience felt when they saw these images – that have now permanently redefined the Biden brand. You can use spin to explain a bumbled one-liner or badly mangled response, but the American people are always thinking about those jarring, shocking images of Biden, including his mouth agape, that lifeless stare, and his sickly mannerisms. They’re indelible images.
And they’re never going away.
