MEDIA/TRUMP PEOPLE: “By the time the furor over a presidential aide accused of spousal abuse reached week two, the White House account of what happened became less clear, not more. The contradictions were multiplying. The daily news briefing was filled with caveats…
The rule of thumb for crisis communications in any White House is to get a complete and accurate account of events out quickly, if for no other reason than to keep a negative story from lasting longer than it otherwise might. But President Trump’s White House has thrown out the rule book in so many ways. The continuing questions about Rob Porter, the staff secretary who resigned after being accused of abusing two former wives, have provided a case study in how shifting stories can make matters worse…
Critics say the conflicting accounts stem from the top, from a president who has made so many false statements or given so many contradictory versions of the truth in so many instances that even his own advisers cannot trust him… This is not the first White House where that has happened, of course, but lessons from past experience suggest why it can be corrosive.”
-Peter Baker, “The White House Flouts the First Rule of Crisis Communications: Get the Facts Out Fast,” The New York Times online, Feb. 15, 2018