"Every time Donald Trump's political death was predicted, he came out with higher poll numbers"
ADVERTISEMENTIt has been a year since Donald Trump shocked and surprised many around the world by winning the race to become president of the United States.
This was a man, who not only was a political novice; he was also perhaps the biggest ever rank outsider.
What Trump did have in large amounts however was tremendous star power, and an uncanny knack of hogging the headlines, thanks to his loud and brash way of, as he would put it, “telling it like it is”.
NBC News’ Katy Tur covered Trump’s campaign for more than a year, having many opportunities to get up close and personal. She recounts her experiences in her book Unbelievable, my front row seat to the craziest campaign in American history: “https://www.nytimes.com/2017/09/12/books/review/katy-tur-memior-unbelievable.html” Tur spoke to Euronews’ Tokunbo Salako.
Euronews: “Is there a big change between Trump as the candidate and Trump, the president?”
Katy Tur, NBC News: “No, it’s not a change at all. Donald Trump is a 71-year-old man, he’s set in his ways. The way he behaved the campaign trail, on Twitter, in interviews, on the rally stage among Republicans, among Democrats, is the the way he is behaving as president. There is no change, he did not walk into the White House and suddenly, as he would like to put it, became more presidential. He is Donald Trump.”
Euronews: “You go into great detail in your book about how you once cringed when Trump gave you a big kiss on the cheek. Prior to his election he was widely attacked over his comments as well as his behaviour towards women. So do you feel the climate has changed in America towards him since,? Especially in light of the #MeToo: “https://twitter.com/hashtag/MeToo?src=hash&lang=en” campaign against sexual misconduct?”
Katy Tur, NBC News: “You know, the climate does not seem to have changed against Donald Trump. There is a bit of a conundrum in America right now, you have a number of people coming out against high-profile names in the entertainment business, and now we are hearing some more allegations coming out in politics as well, but most of the entertainment business right now and even journalism. And they are quickly getting dropped by their agencies, dropped by their production companies, dropped by their networks, they are feeling the consequences almost immediately.
“But there seems to be a disconnect between that and the woman that came out and accused Donald Trump last year at the end of the campaign. They have not seen any of the same consequences for Donald Trump, the man they were accusing of sexually harassing or sexually assaulting them. Donald Trump himself has denied all of those allegations, he promised to sue the accusers the first day he got into office. He has not done so.”
Euronews: “Why do you think it is that despite all things which have been thrown against him, and so often his administration has shot itself in the foot, why is it that nothing has stuck so far?”
Katy Tur, NBC News: “You know, that’s a really good question. And I tried to explore that when I wrote the book and tried to figure out why so many people were not turned off by all of the controversies surrounding him, all the negative things he said, all the outrageous things he said, all the other things that would have torpedoed another politician, or anybody else in any sort of public life. They made him stronger.
“Every time Donald Trump’s political death was predicted, he came out with higher poll numbers. He came out with more supporters. And he won on election day. Donald Trump, for better or worse, and many even of his voters would say, worse, is shaking the system, and he is getting people to pay attention. So maybe putting him in office is not such a bad idea.
“Maybe putting somebody completely outside of the political world, somebody who does not follow any of the rules, somebody who does not follow the etiquette, somebody who won’t just say one thing and do another, is a good idea. Maybe we need the jolt in Washington to shake Congress up and get it working for the American people again. There was a large amount of people in this country who really felt this way. And many of them, again, didn’t like Donald Trump, they just wanted something to change.”