9/11/MEDIA/SOCIAL MEDIA/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT/TRUMP PEOPLE: “President Donald Trump marked the 17th anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks on Tuesday [9-11-18] by stepping back into the role of consoler-in-chief – but only after spending the morning tweeting as usual. Before traveling to the Shanksville, Pa., site where United Flight 93 crashed into a field, the president fired off multiple posts accusing his opponents of ‘failing and lying like CRAZY’ and charging the investigative reporter Bob Woodward with acting like a Democratic operative ahead of the midterms. He re-posted tweets proclaiming his innocence in the Russia probe and thanking ‘God for President Trump.’ And he wrote a missive crediting his own personal lawyer Rudy Giuliani with leadership in the wake of the terrorist attacks in New York, a divergence from past presidential messages crediting the heroism of first responders and citizens. The president’s muted speech at the site of the airline crash 17 years ago belied the conflict-ridden tone of an executive who has struggled with a basic obligation of his office: commemorating the fallen in service of pulling the country together.”
–Christopher Cadelago, “Trump struggles to embrace consoler-in-chief role,” Politico, September 11, 2018 2:18 pm