Recent Interview with United States President Raises Questions About How He Interprets Information

An exclusive interview with United States President, Donald Trump, aired on CBS Evening News with Norah O’Donnell July 14th. During the interview, he acknowledged the death of George Floyd was “terrible.” What came next it appears even took the interviewer off-guard when she asked him about police brutality. When asked, “Why are African-Americans still dying at the hands of law enforcement in this country?”, his response was simply, “And so are White people.” He actually appeared to take offense to the question. I would have loved for the interviewer to have drilled down deeper, but it appeared she may have been as thrown off as I was by the response and quickly decided to just move on to the next question.

His response is the equivalent of her pitching him a softball on a baseball diamond, him catching the ball with his hands, running to the other side of the park, and then taking a layup on the basketball court. In the interviewer’s defense, it would have taken way longer than a four-minute interview to unpack it. His answer makes perfect sense if it comes from someone on Facebook, but, for the President of a country, you expect something a little more insightful. You would have expected more given a significant fraction of the countries in the world took to the streets in protest after the George Floyd incident.

The question of how much of a priority this is for his administration I think was answered. With that aside, it begins to raise real questions about how he interprets information. And if he is unable to demonstrate the analytical ability to properly interpret information, then how is he able to make decisions and solve problems for the American people?

References

1. Asked why Black Americans are killed by police, Trump responds, “So are White people”. https://www.cbsnews.com/news/trump-black-americans-killed-police-so-are-white-people/. Last accessed: 07/19/2020.