Trump, Biden, and Defunding the Police: Once Again, Trump Suffers from Talking Points Disease

Donald Trump, White House photo

Alas, like many politicians before him, President Donald Trump has fallen ill from the Talking Points Disease. He repeated a common but false talking point because he had not taken time to inform himself. Relying on ridiculous conservative talking points instead of research, Trump falsely accused likely Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden of seeking to defund the police. Fox News correspondent Chris Wallace made him look silly. The cure is for speakers to inform themselves before they speak.

What Is Talking Points Disease?

The Talking Points Disease occurs when a someone repeats prepared political talking points but has no idea what they mean, much less whether they are true. Talking points are not ideas; they’re just empty words. Political parties often prepare talking points for their politicians, not to mention their media friends. They print these up and hand them out to supporters. Often they try to keep them secret, but sometimes they post their talking points on the Internet. Rarely are these talking points accurate.

Earlier: Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton Suffered from Talking Points Disease in their 2016 Debates

For example, political operative Frank Luntz's famous memo about Republican 9/11 talking points advised Republicans to say things like, "Communicate that you are leading the fight for the principles of freedom and security." Lutz offered sample passages entitled "Words that Work." Politicians didn't need to understand any of this; they just needed to say the words. Republicans who used Luntz' talking points and "words that work" won several elections.

What Was Trump's Biden / “Abolish the Police” Talking Point?

In this case, Trump repeated a conservative talking point, that Biden wants to defund and abolish the police. Of course, “Defund the Police” is a left-wing talking point that the more extreme politicians mindlessly spread. Usually, what they really mean is that they want to reallocate some police funding toward social spending and social work.

Earlier: Mike Lee Suffered from Talking Points Disease in His Ridiculous Seahorse Speech 

Conservatives lay out talking points in media outlets that liberals don’t even notice. That works out well for them; they don’t need to keep their tactics secret if oblivious liberals don’t bother to look. For example, writing in the conservative The Federalist a few weeks ago, David Marcus wrote that Biden would simply give in to defunding the police. 

Marcus’ accusation (like many others) lays out standard conservative talking points. Nevertheless, Marcus hedged his statement and never quite said outright that Biden sought to abolish the police. Instead, “Defund the Police” gave him a theme that helped him spin out a conspiracy theory. No doubt he hoped to hoodwink conservative voters. Instead, he, or someone like him, or maybe somebody on Twitter who said the same thing, hoodwinked President Trump. The problem comes when people, like President Trump, begin to believe their own propaganda.

So, using talking points that he did not understand, Trump had an interesting exchange during a Rose Garden interview with Fox News correspondent Chris Wallace. Wallace asked why the shootings and violence in cities seem to have become so much worse. Trump responded that the Democrats run cities poorly and added:

“It’s really because they want to defund the police. And Biden wants to defund the police.”

Wallace interrupted Trump and said,

“Sir, he does not.”

Trump interrupted Wallace and said,

“Look, he signed a charter with Bernie Sanders…”

Wallace interrupted in turn:

“And he said nothing about defunding the police.”

Irritated, Trump sneered and said,

“Oh really, it says abolish, it says defund . . .” He then snapped, “Let’s go get me the charter, please.”

Trump’s staff obtained the charter summary. Trump looked through it, as Wallace explained later, “But he couldn’t find any indication, because there isn’t any, that Joe Biden has sought to defund and abolish the police.” Wallace chuckled.

So, Trump repeated a talking point, but Wallace, who was better-prepared, caught him red-handed. This time around, Trump generated plenty of self-induced bad publicity. PolitiFact gave Trump's claim a Pants on Fire rating. National newspaper USA Today promptly described the embarrassing exchange. Forbes entitled their story "Trump Wrongly Suggests Biden Supports Defunding the Police in Fox News Interview."

Oh, the Talking Points Disease!

Trump's Rose Garden debacle teaches us several lessons about the Talking Points Disease.

First, speakers need research. There is no substitute, and I mean none, for being a well-informed speaker. “Defund the Police” is a slogan, not information. Trump needed to inform himself about Biden’s policy positions. He obviously did not.

Earlier: Speakers Need Research: Trump and Bleach Injections

Second, talking points are, by their nature, shallow, phony, and meaningless. “Defund the Police” is a superficial slogan to begin with. Apparently, it never occurred to Trump that Biden would have laid out a more nuanced position.

Most people would like to think that our leaders know more about what’s going on than the rest of us. But politicians who suffer from Talking Points Disease know less than the rest of us, not more. In this case, kudos to Chris Wallace for correcting Trump so quickly and efficiently.

The worst part is that Trump believed his own talking points. He was so convinced that he barked at his staff to get him the document. The document did not support him. Oops! Unlike Trump, Wallace had done his homework. He had read the Biden-Sanders document and knew what it said.

When I was on my college debate team many years ago, the best debaters I encountered on the circuit were not the glib fast talkers. No, indeed, the best debaters showed up for the contest with the best research. They knew the debate topic from front to back. They carried files of facts, quotations, and statistics ready for whatever happened during the debate. Yet, we live in an era when facts are disparaged and conspiracy theorists seem to rule the nation. Beware of Talking Points Disease! Talking points sometimes win elections, but Talking Points Disease can put a constitutional republic into the ICU.

P.S. "Defund the Police" is a ridiculous slogan. "Reform the Police" conveys what most liberals really want, and "Defund" just gives ammunition for, well, conservative talking points.