09/06/2020 The president needs a better hobby - The Washington Post

Democracy Dies in Darkness

The president needs a better hobby

For the good of the country, Trump should stop watching cable news and start binge-watching
shows on Netflix.

By Daniel W. Drezner
Daniel W. Drezner is a professor of international politics at the Fletcher School of Law and
Diplomacy at Tufts University and a regular contributor to PostEverything.

Feb. 20, 2018 at 2:30 p.m. GMT

The president did not enjoy Presidents’ Day weekend. As the White House would
put it, the tweets speak for themselves.

Donald J. Trump
@realDonaldTrump

Very sad that the FBI missed all of the many signals sent out by the
Florida school shooter. This is not acceptable. They are spending too
much time trying to prove Russian collusion with the Trump campaign -
there is no collusion. Get back to the basics and make us all proud!
131K 5:08 AM - Feb 18, 2018

105K people are talking about this

Donald J. Trump
@realDonaldTrump

General McMaster forgot to say that the results of the 2016 election
were not impacted or changed by the Russians and that the only
Collusion was between Russia and Crooked H, the DNC and the Dems.
Remember the Dirty Dossier, Uranium, Speeches, Emails and the
Podesta Company!
84.5K 5:22 AM - Feb 18, 2018

60.8K people are talking about this

As my Washington Post colleagues Josh Dawsey and Philip Rucker reported,

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/posteverything/wp/2018/02/20/the-president-needs-a-better-hobby/ 1/7
09/06/2020 The president needs a better hobby - The Washington Post

Trump’s “defiant and error-laden tweetstorm that was remarkable even by his
own combative standards” appeared to be a function of his being cooped up in
Mar-a-Lago:

Support our journalism. Subscribe today.

After visiting victims of the Parkland shooting and first responders at an area hospital
on Friday evening, Trump did not leave Mar-a-Lago until Sunday evening, skipping
his usual rounds of golf at his nearby course in what aides described as a decision to
show respect for the 17 people killed in the school massacre.

Instead, Trump spent his time watching television, talking with friends and tweeting,
aides said.

As of late Sunday, it was still pretty obvious that Trump was doing little but
watching television:

Donald J. Trump
@realDonaldTrump

Just watched a very insecure Oprah Winfrey, who at one point I knew
very well, interview a panel of people on 60 Minutes. The questions
were biased and slanted, the facts incorrect. Hope Oprah runs so she
can be exposed and defeated just like all of the others!
135K 5:28 AM - Feb 19, 2018

102K people are talking about this

Most of the president’s weekend tweets were repugnant, but the motivations
were not hard to divine. The Oprah Winfrey tweet was genuinely baffling; if he
had bothered to listen, Trump could have found much to like in that segment.

AD
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/posteverything/wp/2018/02/20/the-president-needs-a-better-hobby/ 2/7
09/06/2020 The president needs a better hobby - The Washington Post
AD

The mood is so bad in the West Wing that Trump officials admitted the Florida
shooting was a “reprieve” from the political chaos. That official also told The
Post’s Ashley Parker and Philip Rucker: “But as we all know, sadly, when the
coverage dies down a little bit, we’ll be back through the chaos.”

The hard-working staff here at Spoiler Alerts would like to be able to wake up in
the morning and not wade through a dozen error-filled, offensive presidential
tweets. Clearly, however, the president’s executive time, combined with a
tsunami of bad political news, leads to this kind of reaction.

Rather than have White House staffers yearn for another school shooting, let me
suggest an alternative: The president needs to start binge-watching television
shows.

AD

This is not my first choice, and it’s not my second, either. But the president
seems committed to “executive time,” which means he is going to be watching a
lot of television. At the same time, Trump does not like coverage of himself
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/posteverything/wp/2018/02/20/the-president-needs-a-better-hobby/ 3/7
09/06/2020 The president needs a better hobby - The Washington Post

outside the Fox News bubble. Furthermore, on some level, I suspect even Trump
knows that he can’t trust what anyone on Fox News says about him, anyway.

Rather than get angry watching more news coverage of himself, maybe Trump
needs to do what many Americans do during their own version of executive time:
watch something on Netflix that has no commercial interruption. Here are three
modest suggestions that might entertain the president and nudge him toward
some less-bigoted thinking:

1. “Parks and Recreation.” What better way for Trump to learn about the
whole governing thing than by watching a show about local government? I worry
that the humor might go over Trump’s head, but I am sure he would love Ron
Swanson and his pyramid of greatness.

AD

2. “Star Trek.” The original series is perfect for Trump. He’ll identify with the
emotionalism of Leonard McCoy and the virility of Captain Kirk. If the
president’s focus starts to wander, the old-style Starfleet miniskirts will likely
hold his attention. Without even realizing it, Trump might learn about the values
of multilateralism and free trade as practiced by the United Federation of
Planets.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/posteverything/wp/2018/02/20/the-president-needs-a-better-hobby/ 4/7
09/06/2020 The president needs a better hobby - The Washington Post

3. “Mad Men.” When Trump says he wants to make America great again, I
suspect this is the era that comes to his mind. Plus, I am sure that when Donald
Trump looks in the mirror, he sees Donald Draper is looking back at him. So let
him watch this award-winning series to learn that nostalgia has its limits.

Really, I’m trying to help the president here. It would be better if he actually read
the documents he claimed to read. In the absence of diligence, however, I would
prefer that the president unwind rather than get wound up.

AD

So for God’s sake, John F. Kelly, show the president of the United States how to
use Netflix.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/posteverything/wp/2018/02/20/the-president-needs-a-better-hobby/ 5/7