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Ryan Teague Beckwith is a political editor at TIME's Washington D.C. bureau, so he's become quite familiar with how the media covers each controversy generated by President Donald Trump. Trump is always in the headlines and tracking the cycle of what happens when he dumb something controversial has gotten somewhat routine. It turns out, each instance has fallen into a pretty typical pattern. On Tuesday, May 16th, he decided to take us through it step-by-step on Twitter:
1. Whoa. Crazy story in that [legacy media outlet] on Trump Administration's approach to [subject].
— Ryan Teague Beckwith (@ryanbeckwith) May 16, 2017
Here comes the inevitable news coverage:
2. Cable news can't stop talking about that crazy story in [legacy media outlet].
— Ryan Teague Beckwith (@ryanbeckwith) May 16, 2017
Then we give Melissa McCarthy something to work with:
3. Rough White House press briefing. Spicer says that crazy story is not news but won't explain what's wrong exactly.
— Ryan Teague Beckwith (@ryanbeckwith) May 16, 2017
4. Huh. [Newer online news outlet] has confirmed some of that [legacy media outlet] story from earlier and added more details.
— Ryan Teague Beckwith (@ryanbeckwith) May 16, 2017
But of course the White House won't back down in the face of truth:
5. White House still sticking with the argument that it's not true, but the only person on TV defending them is Jeffrey Lord.
— Ryan Teague Beckwith (@ryanbeckwith) May 16, 2017
Then the White House sends out their spin-masters:
6. Some White House aides just [went on TV/gave a brief statement and took no questions/called reporters] on that story.
— Ryan Teague Beckwith (@ryanbeckwith) May 16, 2017
This will greet you as you wake up the next morning:
7. Good morning! Trump is tweeting up a story about that story from yesterday. He's sticking it to [Congress/Chuck Schumer/Hillary Clinton].
— Ryan Teague Beckwith (@ryanbeckwith) May 16, 2017
White House staffers can't be big fans of this step:
8. Whoa. Trump just contradicted what the White House aides said yesterday on a key line of defense on that crazy story.
— Ryan Teague Beckwith (@ryanbeckwith) May 16, 2017
9. Pretty good tick-tock on how yesterday went down in [a different legacy media outlet]. Rough day!
— Ryan Teague Beckwith (@ryanbeckwith) May 16, 2017
These Republicans Senators aren't the only ones who find it "troubling."
10. Anonymous Republican senator in [a third media outlet] says off the record that the whole thing is "very troubling."
— Ryan Teague Beckwith (@ryanbeckwith) May 16, 2017
Speaker Paul Ryan comments:
11. Speaker Ryan won't comment on the story, says he's focused on tax reform for the American people.
— Ryan Teague Beckwith (@ryanbeckwith) May 16, 2017
Majority Leader Mitch McConnell just wants to "get back to work." Yeah we've certainly heard this one before -- unfortunately it's one of the cliche, hollow phrases politicians use to change the subject under controversy.
12. Mitch McConnell finally breaks silence, says he hopes "everyone will calm down so we can get back to work."
— Ryan Teague Beckwith (@ryanbeckwith) May 16, 2017
But does the controversy make any difference?
13. New poll shows that crazy story hasn't really affected Trump's approval ratings, which remain low but high among Republicans.
— Ryan Teague Beckwith (@ryanbeckwith) May 16, 2017
Conservatives media outlets offer their take:
14. Fox News has an interesting segment today on [Hillary Clinton/Benghazi] but so far hasn't mentioned the story.
— Ryan Teague Beckwith (@ryanbeckwith) May 16, 2017
15. Breitbart has a story up now, blaming the whole thing on [Hillary Clinton/Barack Obama/the Deep State].
— Ryan Teague Beckwith (@ryanbeckwith) May 16, 2017
Before long, it starts all over again. You may think these tweets sound oddly familiar - hopefully, something will come along to break the pattern soon enough but for now check this out:
16. Sean Spicer at the press briefing: "The tweet speaks for itself."
— Ryan Teague Beckwith (@ryanbeckwith) May 16, 2017
17. Whoa. Another crazy story in [legacy media outlet] on Trump Administration's approach to [subject].
— Ryan Teague Beckwith (@ryanbeckwith) May 16, 2017
This is so spot on. Trump does a lot of dumb things and definitely seems to have a new controversy every day so seeing it put like this is a breath of fresh air. It's just one deflection after the next. Hopefully the media stops playing into his hands in the future.
