MEDIA/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT/TRUMP PEOPLE: “On Thursday [4-26-19] night, Donald Trump did a 45-minute phone interview with Fox News’ flagship face: Sean Hannity. That, on its own, is, well, odd. The President of the United States spending 45 minutes on the phone with a conservative talk show host isn’t something that happened ever before. And may not happen ever again. Also, sort of weird in that Hannity hosts a TV show and TV is a visual medium — not exactly the preferred medium for an extended phone interview. But it’s not just that Trump did it that is so startling. (In fact, calling into cable shows has been a regular Trump practice since the 2016 campaign and even before). It’s what Hannity and Trump talked about. I went through the most remarkable 45 lines from the 45-minute interview, but suffice it to say that it was a miasma of conspiracy theorizing, fact-free ‘analysis’ and martyrdom…Here’s what’s important about all of that: Trump was at his most comfortable in this interview. He was on the phone from the White House talking to one of his most ardent defenders in Hannity. This interview is as close to the ‘real’ A series of entirely unproven conspiracy theories. A series of bullying claims about his opponents — including that Joe Biden ‘is not the brightest bulb in the group.’ And time and time again, a deep victimhood complex — in which everyone but Hannity and a few other true loyalists were out to get Trump but he somehow, managed to persevere.”
–Chris Cillizza, “Sean Hannity reveals the real Donald Trump,” CNN Politics, CNN.com, April 26, 2019 7:32 pm