A New Kind Of Madness
Donald Trump is passing on ESPN’s Bracketology. That’s great, but he shouldn’t have been offered the opportunity in the first place.
Tough news this week for anyone who wondered whether Carnival-Barker-in-Chief Donald Trump thinks 2017 might finally be Gonzaga’s year. ESPN confirmed that, despite the network’s invitation, the White House recently relayed that Trump is passing on the opportunity to make selections for this year’s NCAA basketball tournaments, thereby ending the not-so-long-running tradition that began under Barack Obama.
“We expressed our interest to the White House in continuing the presidential bracket,” said ESPN in a statement, “They have respectfully declined.”
As many have noted, it’s not exactly surprising to see Trump turn down the opportunity, given that college basketball seems to fall outside his area of interest. (If anybody is creating a “Which Cable News Network is the Fakest?” bracket, sign him up!) As ESPN’s article notes, Obama was an avid hoops fan, and something tells me that our current President doesn’t have a whole lot of insight to offer on, say, the VCU Rams. (“I would have carried Virginia if it wasn’t for all the rampant voter fraud! Sad!”)
Then again, it’s also possible that there’s an entirely different explanation for why Trump is passing.
No matter the reason, Trump will not be welcoming Andy Katz back into the Oval Office to make his selections, and we’ll be spared the awkward possibility of him picking CSKA Moscow to win the whole thing. But before we simply move on and file “Baracketology” alongside the other things we’ll miss from the Obama administration — like reality-based briefings, the confidence of our allies, and a basic respect for the rule of law — it’s important to take a moment and recognize one important truth that shouldn’t be swept under the rug.
An ESPN appearance never should have been offered to Trump in the first place.
It goes without saying that there are far more important things going on in our country right now than whether our Commander-in-Chief spends a few minutes filling out a bracket.
After all, we’re less than a month in, and we’ve already lost the National Security Advisor, a whole bunch of leadership at the State Department, and the fast food burger guy that was going to be our Labor Secretary. (Serenity Now!) In the face of this, let’s call it “rocky,” start for the new administration, it’s easy, and fair, to ask why in the heck anyone should care whether he takes the time to pick a few upsets on the way to the Final Four.
But let’s not minimize the significance of the opportunity, either.
ESPN is still, after all, one of the most viewed cable networks, and the most powerful sports media outlet by virtually any measure. Heck, it’s a company that, over its almost 40 year history, has extended well beyond its core audience, and has become a household name for all Americans, regardless of whether they happen to be sports fans.
Despite this fractured, a-la-carte, new media age, ESPN continues to offer one of the biggest platforms available, the kind that despite its sliding ratings and revenue-generation issues, remains quite valuable and important for its parent company, Disney. (Full disclosure: I was an ESPN employee, in studio production, from 2006 to 2013.)
It is also easy to understand why the network felt compelled to offer Trump the invitation in the first place. After twice hosting a Democratic President, surely the same courtesy must be shown his Republican successor, lest anyone be able to accuse ESPN of bias, of having an agenda, of drawing a distinction between the two men.
And that is precisely where that entire line of reasoning falls apart, because, to put it plainly, of course there are differences between Barack Obama and Donald Trump — the kind that go well beyond their political affiliation.
One was an imperfect, but serious man, who treated the office he held with dignity, studiously considered intelligence, respected the role of the media and those who opposed him, and governed with an commitment to equal rights, religious pluralism, freedom of the press, and the sanctity of our legal system.
The other is a preposterous, childish figure who launched his political career by falsely assailing the sitting President’s birthplace, stoked racism throughout his campaign with inflammatory rhetoric, insulted his critics and perceived “enemies” in the media in the most shameless of fashions, and was caught on tape bragging about committing sexual assault.
Since taking office — again, less than a month ago(!) — Trump has shown no inclination to eliminate conflicts of interest between the Presidency and his businesses, he has required intelligence agencies to dramatically simplify his daily briefings thanks to his short attention span, he has appointed a cadre of wholly unqualified cranks and cronies to serve underneath him, and he is likely leading the country into a constitutional crisis.
All in record time, too!
All of which is to say that no, there isn’t actually much that Barack Obama and Donald Trump have in common, beyond the Office of the Presidency itself. The Office alone does not justify offering the two men the same courtesies or the same treatment (or the same invitations to pick a 12/5 upset in the Midwest Regional).
Respect for the Presidency is all well and good, but our nation was built upon the premise that the holder of that office is accountable to us, not the other way around. In this most unprecedented of situations, that means continuing to hold Trump responsible for his wholly unacceptable behavior and not normalizing things like this:
There’s been plenty of discussion about the normalization of President Trump. And with good reason: His lack of intellectual depth, his affinity for chaos, his total flouting of political and social norms — and quite possibly the law — make him a uniquely troubling, and dangerous figure. Everyone from John Oliver to Dan Rather to Charlie Pierce to Tavis Smiley agree, and that means that it’s critical to avoid the urge to cover him, discuss him, and treat him like any President before him.
So while it may not seem like a big deal, allowing Trump — through a bracket challenge, or any other high gloss, soft focus appearance — to present himself as “Sports Fan-in-Chief,” rather than a malignant, destructive force on our democracy, would be a disservice to the thoughtful, diverse, and distinguished individuals who make ESPN what it is.
It’s important to note that it wasn’t too long ago when ESPN distanced itself from then candidate Trump because of his antics. Back in July of 2015, just days before the event, the network announced that it would be moving the annual ESPY Celebrity Golf Classic from Trump National Golf Club to Pelican Hill in Los Angeles. The decision came after Trump’s infamous remarks decrying Mexican immigrants as “rapists” and “killers,” and in a statement released at the time, ESPN was fairly clear that such rhetoric was the impetus for the tournament’s relocation.
“We decided it was appropriate to change the venue, and are grateful for the opportunity to stage the event at Pelican Hill on short notice. This charity outing benefits The V Foundation’s Stuart Scott Memorial Cancer Research Fund, providing resources for important cancer research for minority populations, including Hispanics and African Americans. Our decision reflects our deep feelings for our former colleague and support for inclusion of all sports fans. Diversity and inclusion are core values at ESPN and our decision also supports that commitment.”
So what, exactly, has changed from then to now?
Certainly, Trump has not become more inclusive. Nor has he dialed back the inflammatory rhetoric, apologized, atoned, or asserted a commitment to the “core values” of diversity and inclusion.
No, there’s really only one thing that’s different: That that the racially insensitive candidate of 2015 is now our racially insensitive President.
That is why it is so vital — not just for ESPN, but for our entire country — to not allow the trappings, grandeur, and power of the Presidency to whitewash the reality of the man who occupies the office. It was not long ago that Trump was thought of as a buffoonish charlatan who treated women as objects; the lower-class as disposable; and anyone who didn’t look, act, and think like him as the enemy. He was a pathetic, vile figure, worthy of nothing more than contempt and ridicule.
Only, Trump is still all of those things. The Presidency certainly changes a man’s life, but it doesn’t change the man himself.
Trump passing on the NCAA Tournament Bracket opportunity doesn’t mean this story is going away, though. In an email to the Washington Post, White House spokeswoman Hope Hicks noted that, “We look forward to working with ESPN on another opportunity in the near future.”
With any luck, such an opportunity will never materialize. So-called President Trump has far bigger problems on his plate, and assuming ESPN still believes in its stated commitment to diversity and inclusion, it should say thanks, but no thanks to any future POTUS appearance. Would that be a little abnormal? Of course. But then, so is Donald Trump.
And hell, he’s a fair-weather fan, anyway.
