HUGE “When Going Viral Sucks” Weekend For Trump

Over this weekend some videos of Donald Trump were released by the Washington Post from 10 years ago that truly defined a “When Going Viral Sucks moment,” in relation to politicians. 

Donald Trump was video taped on an Access Hollywood bus saying some extremely vulgar, rude, and demeaning comments about women to then former Access Hollywood co-host Billy Bush. Since the videos release the mass media has been eating the story up. Over the last few months Trump has been receiving the title of a “Women hater,” and this video only fueled those allegations.

I don’t want to go into the specifics on the political impact this will have on Trump’s presidential candidacy other than saying it looks damaging. However instead I’m going to examine why this is truly a “When Going Viral Sucks,” moment for Donald. 

When I saw this story break I knew the video was going to go viral in a “bigly” manner as Mr. Trump often likes to say. It was evident that this was going to be the only thing the general public, and the media talked about for the following week, and presumably the remaining 4 weeks until the election. There was no doubt the video was going to be shared millions of times on social media and be replayed on a loop hundreds of times by each of the major Television networks. It was going to have Trump being portrayed in the media for ALL the wrong reasons and that’s exactly what happened.

Below are some of the reasons I’ve recognized as to why this video went as viral as it did. I would love to hear from readers if they agree! :) 

1. Women vote struggles — Over the last 3 months or so Hillary Clinton and the media have been hammering Trump on his treatment and respect for women. Although plenty of the rhetoric I’m sure is stretching the truth, there certainly have been comments made by Trump (prior to this video’s release) that definitely were not politically correct and also displayed forms of sexism by the presidential candidate. With the election less than 4 weeks away and the numbers mattering more and more each day this video just provided more evidence that the proof is in the pudding, with what will be Trump’s struggle to win the women’s vote. The video doesn’t help Trump AT ALL in re-claiming any portion of the women population vote in this year’s election and from a polling, forecasting, and prediction standpoint it fueled the Nostradamus’ of the world to continue to feel this way.

2. “We’ve been right all along” — News pundits who have been accusing Trump of being sexist against women had their time to shine this weekend. These talking heads were brought in to speak on all the major Television stations to continue their ripping of Donald Trump and to make the general public aware that, “They were right all along.” Whenever talking heads get the chance to prove that they were right in their claims they are going to seize that moment. With a story this important, at such a critical time in the election cycle, you knew that egos were going to soar in a viral manner as each of these news pundits had their chance to claim victory.

3. Star power — The people featured having a conversation in the video are not only Donald Trump but also Television star Billy Bush who is the nephew of the former 41st president of the United States George H.W. Bush. Billy has had a successful Television career over the last 15 years being a guest correspondent and then main co-host of various shows like Access Hollywood, and The Today Show. He also has been seen doing some of the main interviews at the largest red carpet events in the world such as the Golden Globes, Grammys, and Academy Awards. When you have two stars in this case partaking in the lewd commentary seen in the video as opposed to simply just Trump, it allows for the story to receive double the amount of coverage it would normally receive. 

 

Top 3 Viral Predictions For Each Candidate Before Tonight's Debate

With tonight's debate set to take place less than 12 hours from now, one of the million dollar questions many pundits are pondering is, “What are the news headlines going to read tomorrow?” There is no doubt, going to be at least one if not multiple moments that characterize tonight's debate and either candidate could be liable for sparking that moment. 

In today’s post we’re going to try predicting three viral moments that we’ll end up hearing about non-stop tomorrow in the media. Two of these viral predictions will be a negative outcome for the candidate (sucks moment) and one will be a positive outcome for the candidate (works moment).

Let’s start with Hillary Clinton:

1. Email Interrogation — there is no way that the email scandal that has haunted Hillary over the last year of campaigning isn’t brought up. If Hillary finds herself getting caught up in a 3–5 question interrogation tonight it could mean big trouble. For instance we could have not only the moderator Lester Holt questioning her on this subject, but Donald Trump getting in his own personal email jabs. If this ends up happening, I get the sense Hillary will have a difficult time escaping the debate with a real victory neither in the eyes of voters or the press. (When Going Viral Sucks Moment)

2. Extra Aggressive “Comebacks” —To date I have yet to see Hillary look slick or sharp in her verbal attacks of Donald Trump. I just don’t think this is a strength of hers and nor does it need to be. This weakness (in my opinion) however can turn into a viral nightmare for her if she decides to try and excel in this department and continuously try attacking Trump. Taking this approach I believe would irritate Trump enough to whip out some of his own aggressive “comebacks” which we’ve heard to date and some new attacks in his “bag of tricks” such as going down the Monica Lewinsky path. If this takes place it just gives Clinton one more miserable topic/scandal she needs to focus on, and one that surely the press will be covering in full swarm tomorrow. (When Going Viral Sucks Moment)

3. Depth Versus Width On Policy — Hillary has a “Deeper” understanding of governmental functions, checks and balances, U.S. history, and many other subjects that future Presidents need to have real foundational knowledgeable on. If she sticks to this strength of hers and is able to clearly communicate the depth of this knowledge over Trump she can set herself up to look amazing tomorrow in the news headlines. If she can take it one step further and while communicating her knowledge, simultaneously demonstrate the lack of depth/knowledge Trump has on some of these mandatory presidential subjects it could turn into an embarrassing moment for Trump. This embarrassing moment for Trump could then be one that scares voters away from him and into Hillary’s corner and she’ll be labeled as the clear winner of the debate. (When Going Viral Works Moment)

And of course we can’t forget about Donald Trump:

1. Crosses The Line — if Donald decides to push the envelope a bit further than it should be with hundreds of millions of people watching him it could turn out disastrous. The Republican nominee has become super popular with his base and notorious amongst the general public for his various sound-bites which many times have been ethnically, or racially driven and have negative contexts associated with them. These sound bites are a large reason for why Trump has gotten as far as he has. However if he crosses the line in one of his statements there will be no way in which the media can ignore it and all the post debate press coverage will be zooming in on this one potentially derogatory statement. (When Going Viral Sucks Moment)

2. Tries To Play Moderator — This is the first time Trump will be partaking in a debate with only one other prospective candidate. As a result that might get very uncomfortable for him. We all know that Trump likes to have control over everything he does and therefore as a way to divert attention away from him, we could easily see Trump try and grill Hillary with his own questions and ignore those which Lester Holt asks of him. He might also try and flip questions back on Lester that he is uncomfortable answering. This flip flopping might be the worse way for things to come full circle for Donald and bite him in the butt. This because over the last year he has consistently been labeled as a flip flopper candidate on important issues. Showcasing his unease with answering questions directed at him and probing Hillary or Lester with his own questions will turn into all the wrong reasons for him to be receiving attention in tomorrow’s headlines. (When Going Viral Sucks Moment)

3. Specifics Over Soundbites — One of the main criticisms of Trump over the last year of his campaign has been his lack of specific details on different issues. If he embraces tonight's opportunity to reveal legitimate details on his plans in front of millions of Americans, he could give himself the most realistic chance yet to take down this election. With under six weeks left until the election, people could embrace him for his planned tactic of “Saving the best for last.” If he can communicate real details, and real specifics, to the real problems facing America, it will give the American public a new reason to respect him and it would allow Donald Trump to flourish all the way up until election day. (When Going Viral Works Moment)