10 Comments

• Steve Trevethan 25th Oct '17 - 1:41pm

  Most interesting article!
  George W Bush too?

• Dav 25th Oct '17 - 5:48pm

  It’s not that different, is it? Take the answer from 1:28 – 1:48. He repeats himself, he interrupts himself, he circles around his point, he makes the same point in different words, he fills in time with irrelevant detail, exactly as the present-day Trump does.

• Paul Walter 25th Oct '17 - 6:15pm

  Here is his latest interview – the softest of interviews with Fox News’ Maria Bartiromo – in the first answer at 1:18 he has a lot of ums, ahs and ers, which are simply not present in the Tom Brakow interview:

• Paul Walter 25th Oct '17 - 6:20pm

  Here’s a piece from Stat on the subject:

  In interviews Trump gave in the 1980s and 1990s (with Tom Brokaw, David Letterman, Oprah Winfrey, Charlie Rose, and others), he spoke articulately, used sophisticated vocabulary, inserted dependent clauses into his sentences without losing his train of thought, and strung together sentences into a polished paragraph, which — and this is no mean feat — would have scanned just fine in print. This was so even when reporters asked tough questions about, for instance, his divorce, his brush with bankruptcy, and why he doesn’t build housing for working-class Americans.

  Trump fluently peppered his answers with words and phrases such as “subsided,” “inclination,” “discredited,” “sparring session,” and “a certain innate intelligence.” He tossed off well-turned sentences such as, “It could have been a contentious route,” and, “These are the only casinos in the United States that are so rated.” He even offered thoughtful, articulate aphorisms: “If you get into what’s missing, you don’t appreciate what you have,” and, “Adversity is a very funny thing.”

  Now, Trump’s vocabulary is simpler. He repeats himself over and over, and lurches from one subject to an unrelated one, as in this answer during an interview with the Associated Press last month:

  “People want the border wall. My base definitely wants the border wall, my base really wants it — you’ve been to many of the rallies. OK, the thing they want more than anything is the wall. My base, which is a big base; I think my base is 45 percent. You know, it’s funny. The Democrats, they have a big advantage in the Electoral College. Big, big, big advantage. … The Electoral College is very difficult for a Republican to win, and I will tell you, the people want to see it. They want to see the wall.”

• Glenn 25th Oct '17 - 8:20pm

  The thing with Trump is that a lot of it is a showbiz act, He’s basically using the same shtick he did on the Apprentice. Having said that of course he’s changed. He’s in his 30s in the clip and he’s in his 70s now.

• Lorenzo Cherin 25th Oct '17 - 9:05pm

  Paul

  It seems that he was confident in the role of developer , of buildings, or resorts ,but not , of developing arguments , without, resorting to …um…umm..umm..!

  He , unlike Reagan, is not an actor. People mistake actors as good liars, and emphasise the pretence of actors in their craft of convincing , with a script.

  Actors, whether good or bad , have to convince , based on an alternative truth. This is not the same as alternative facts ! What actors can do which many great communicators, politics, law, teaching, cannot do as well or need to ever, is create an alternative reality.

  It is in the ability to change the voice or accent in a character actor. It is in the ability to change the personalty in a an versatile actor, even a leading man . It is in the ability to adapt their own personality to myriad situations in a personalty oriented actor.

  Reagan was numbers two and three.

  Trump is no actor. He cannot act a role he is out of his depth in.

  He does not even memorise a good script well.

  He is good at ranting and thinking aloud.

  Whereas once he was more sharp, now , in this role he is not.

  It is a bit more as a rather aging or past it game show host being given Panorama !

• Sesenco 25th Oct '17 - 9:10pm

  Trump seems to have dispensed with his residual Brooklyn vowels, still discernible in that 1980 interview. A Brooklyn accent goes down about as well in Harvard, Yale and the Hamptons as East London does in Knightsbridge and Esher.

  Note how Trump defends his Fifth Avenue heritage vandalism, and claims not to be interested in making more money (as if). Personally, I find Nicholas Van Hoogstraten much more entertaining, and honest.

• Lorenzo Cherin 25th Oct '17 - 9:22pm

  Paul et al

  Google my name and the word Trump with it , click on google images, I think a picture paints a thousand words …enjoy…!

• Phil Beesley 26th Oct '17 - 12:17pm

  The older interview shows Trump in conversation, reclined in the chair, sharing thoughts with the presenter. He is never animated. His words suggest that he is aware of different opinions to his own.

  In the recent one, Trump sits forward on the chair and keeps his hands between his knees, perhaps to stop them waving around. He is consciously in an interview and projects his voice — there is a bigger vocal range (is that normal for older people?) and he opens his mouth wider. It’s a performance, so we can’t assume too much from what he says on policy or other politicians.

  It’s all fascinating in a grisly sort of way. Perhaps Trump and his advisors understand how he might perform — to convince US voters — better than his critics.

• Paul Walter 26th Oct '17 - 7:24pm

  By the way, Donald Trump aged 33 looks like the spitting image of “Sandy” on “Crossroads”, played by Roger Tonge.