The President of Taiwan CALLED ME today to wish me congratulations on winning the Presidency. Thank you!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 3, 2016
As we told you earlier, Donald Trump broke with decades of precedent and spoke directly with the president of Taiwan, which had many journalists up in arms over the departure from America’s established “one China” policy.
But former Obama staffer Bill Burton had a different take:
Dear media, do you think a single American cares if China is mad about a phone call?
This. Is. Trump's. Game.
— Bill Burton (@billburton) December 2, 2016
Update. Burton tweeted this awesome troll of the media after publication:
Seriously.
I'm worried to go to sleep for fear that the world might not make it through the night because of a phone call. https://t.co/hv9umod6Kk
— Bill Burton (@billburton) December 3, 2016
Burton’s prescribed chill-pill didn’t go over so well.
Alex Burns, NY Times:
This is ad absurdum version of the "don't fall for Trump's distractions" argument–supposed to ignore call to Taiwan?https://t.co/Gnks5rQjbA
— Alex Burns (@alexburnsNYT) December 3, 2016
McKay Coppins, The Atlantic:
https://twitter.com/mckaycoppins/status/804842559398760448
Blake Hounshell, Politico:
what a remarkably cynical statement. This is huge, important news.
— Blake News (@blakehounshell) December 3, 2016
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Daniel Drezner, Washington Post:
Believe it or not, it's possible for something to be important even if most Americans don't care. https://t.co/yxyafSZKah
— Daniel W. Drezner (@dandrezner) December 3, 2016
Edward-Isaac Dovere:
Potentially the issue on this one isn't how many Americans care but how just a few select people in Beijing feel https://t.co/84IH67Q1gO
— Edward-Isaac Dovere (@IsaacDovere) December 2, 2016
My, my are they angry at Bill Burton!
So far I've seen more reporters upset about this tweet than about PEOTUS upending decades of diplomatic relations with China. https://t.co/1RtuPVixJg
— Susan J. Demas ? (@sjdemas) December 3, 2016
Burton went on to explain himself:
My problem is the general lack of self-awareness around reporting assumptions about Trump instead of just facts.
— Bill Burton (@billburton) December 3, 2016
And if you look at the breaking news alerts and stories on this, there is a lot of that.
— Bill Burton (@billburton) December 3, 2016
This is reminiscent of the press explosion when candidate Obama suggested he'd be open to talking to Ahmadinejad. But…
— Bill Burton (@billburton) December 3, 2016
And correctly notes that this is exactly what Trump said he’d do:
@mckaycoppins I didn't call it a distraction. Trump said he was going to treat China like this and then he did.
— Bill Burton (@billburton) December 3, 2016
the middle finger to China is the approach he promised. Maybe the consequences will be suboptimal…
— Bill Burton (@billburton) December 3, 2016
but to treat this like it's out of character only makes him stronger with his base.
— Bill Burton (@billburton) December 3, 2016
And Trump can come out ahead — again — thanks to the media freakout:
Further, if there isn't a new rift, as the breathless breaking news alerts promise, it sets him up as winner in the exchange
— Bill Burton (@billburton) December 3, 2016
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