Abstract
President Trump’s two major scandals—the Russian scandal and the Ukraine scandal—are both examples of power scandals. Unlike the other power scandals profiled in this book, Trump’s approach to scandal management included the contemplation of the use of backfires and their full deployment. During a crucial moment of the Russian investigation, Trump claimed that he had personally been the subject of illegal wiretapping. When questions arose over the propriety of his call with the President of Ukraine, Trump asserted that the real scandal involved former Vice President Joe Biden and his son. As with the other presidents discussed in the case studies, Trump had reason to think he would benefit from the use of backfires. Evidence from his public statements and other sources indicate that he utilized this tactic of scandal management to a greater and more effective degree than Nixon, Reagan, or Clinton.
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Notes
- 1.
The notes of fired FBI Director James Comey’s interactions with Trump are disputed by the president.
- 2.
Using Trump Twitter Archive (http://www.trumptwitterarchive.com/archive/lightweight/ttff) the author searched for “Biden” and tallied the number of tweets and retweets as of February 4, 2020. All were reviewed and found to be specific to the President’s charge of the Bidens’ behavior with Ukraine.
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Barberio, R.P. (2020). President Trump: The Conquest of Backfire Scandal Management?. In: Presidents and Political Scandal. The Evolving American Presidency. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-45504-0_6
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