On Thursday, President Trump gave a press conference variously described as morose, upbeat, combative, aggressive, brilliant, and unhinged. Everyone could certainly agree on one thing: it was wildly entertaining.
But it was also wild.
There were too many odd moments to pick a through-line, though the closest would be Trump attacking the media incessantly. Of course, Trump has done that for over a year, and it’s still working, largely because the media have destroyed their own credibility by turning every conflict with Trump into an umbrage-ridden exercise in pomposity. Perhaps the best description of Trump and the media today comes from Emily Zanotti of Heat Street:
Trump and the msm are like two people in a rom-com who just keep having hate sex with each other until they realize they are in love.
— Emily Zanotti (@emzanotti) February 16, 2017