(CNN) The Wall Street editorial board is a notoriously conservative group, usually supporting conservative policies and Republican presidents. So, when the WSJ writes an op-ed hammering the sitting GOP president, it's worth standing up and taking notice.
That's what happened earlier this week when the WSJ published a piece headlined "Trump's Wasted Briefings" that criticized President Donald Trump for his performance at the daily coronavirus task force press briefings. Here's the key bit (bolding is mine):
"But sometime in the last three weeks Mr. Trump seems to have concluded that the briefings could be a showcase for him. Perhaps they substitute in his mind for the campaign rallies he can no longer hold because of the risks. Perhaps he resented the media adulation that New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo has been receiving for his daily show. Whatever the reason, the briefings are now all about the President."
That absolutely nails what's gone wrong with these daily briefings. What began -- roughly a month ago -- as a useful way to inform a public desperate for facts and information in the face of the surging pandemic has turned into the Trump Show. Or, in the words of Trump himself in a 1990 interview with Playboy magazine: "The show is Trump, and it is sold-out performances everywhere."
Everything you need to know to understand Trump and how he views his life (and the presidency) is contained in that one quote. The world is one big reality show to Trump. He is the executive producer, the maestro in charge of filling each day with the most watchable material. And that most watchable material is produced -- in virtually every situation -- by him.
That worldview guaranteed that when Trump realized that the cable TV networks were taking the coronavirus briefings live, he would insert himself right in the center of them. Because this -- all of it including the coverage of the pandemic -- is the Trump Show. And what is a show without its star?
What's fascinating about the Journal's critique of how Trump handles himself in these briefings is a) how much it clearly bothers him and b) his chosen defense.
Twice in the last 24 hours, Trump has sent tweets directly aimed at the Journal editorial board and its critique of him.
"The Wall Street Journal always 'forgets' to mention that the ratings for the White House Press Briefings are "through the roof" (Monday Night Football, Bachelor Finale, according to @nytimes) & is only way for me to escape the Fake News & get my views across," Trump tweeted Thursday afternoon. "WSJ is Fake News!"
And he followed that up with another tweet Friday morning:
"Because the T.V. Ratings for the White House News Conference's are the highest, the Opposition Party (Lamestream Media), the Radical Left, Do Nothing Democrats &, of course, the few remaining RINO'S, are doing everything in their power to disparage & end them. The People's Voice!"
Trump's defense of the critique that he has made the briefings all about him -- to the detriment of passing along actual useful and actionable information to the public -- is, effectively, this: RATINGS!
That the coronavirus press briefings rate well for cable networks is not due to peoples' desire for the latest news from the country's leaders about a global pandemic but rather because of him, Trump thinks. People tune in to see him. Lots of people.
Baked into Trump's "ratings" defense is also another assumption: That high ratings means the thing that is achieving those ratings is inherently good. Trump makes absolutely no distinction between good rating and plain "good." They are one in the same for him.
Imagine if you lived your life that way. Whatever drew eyeballs to you was good. Whatever didn't was bad. And you used that metric to not only guide all of your decisions but also measure your self worth. Yeah, not a pretty picture.
But that is the reality of Trump's reality TV world. All that matters is that he is making "good" (highly rated) TV. Even during a pandemic that has already claimed more than 16,000 American lives.