January 22, 2025 • 26 mins
In this episode of The PR Breakdown, diving into Donald Trump’s second inaugural address and breaking down the PR strategies, rhetorical moves, and media messages woven throughout. From the decision to move the ceremony indoors to Trump’s subdued, teleprompter-driven delivery, the address was a masterclass in image-conscious storytelling. He leaned heavily into his narrative as the avenging hero, divinely chosen to save America—rhetoric that fires up his base but leaves communicators with plenty to dissect when it comes to the risks of divisive messaging.
Let's also get into the visuals—like Melania’s now-iconic hat and the up-close, tightly framed setting that gave the event a different vibe. Add in some eyebrow-raising claims (hello, "Manifest Destiny" and renaming the Gulf of Mexico), and we’ve got a lot to unpack about how these choices shape public perception. Love him or hate him, this address is full of lessons for anyone working to craft messages that stick. Let’s get into it!
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Molly McPherson (00:04):
Hey there, welcome back to the PR Breakdown
.
I'm your host, molly McPherson,and this is the podcast where
we dissect the biggest momentsin public relations and public
discourse.
We want to figure out what'sreally going on behind the
headlines.
Today on the podcast, let'sjust talk about Donald Trump's
(00:24):
second inaugural address.
I wanted to speak about theaddress only.
That was my plan for thispodcast, but there was so much
live and then I move people overto Patreon and we talked about
(00:49):
the inauguration.
My guest was Michael Jammin.
He is an Emmy-nominated writer,screenwriter, comedy writer.
He's a good friend of mine.
He's on TikTok as well.
He wrote the book A PaperOrchestra and he's worked behind
the scenes on so manytelevision shows out there and a
lot of the people who attendedthe live with us were familiar
with his work.
So we had a lot of funchit-chatting about everything.
(01:11):
But we spent a lot of timetalking about the inauguration
and a number of people you knowadmitted that they didn't watch
it, and even friends of minelike I would ask, but me, I had
to watch every minute of it.
Now the recap of theinauguration setting Donald
Trump becomes the 45th person tobe inaugurated as the 47th
(01:35):
president of the United States.
So wrap your head around thatone, if you haven't done that
already.
Also, vice President JD Vancewas sworn in and you all know
about him he's an author turnedpolitician and now he is the
vice president and the ceremonywas held at the US Capitol
Rotunda, and it was movedindoors due to the weather.
(01:56):
Now, let's start here, shall we?
Now?
Fun fact I mentioned this onthe live tonight I attended
President Trump's firstinaugural address, or his
inauguration, back in 2017.
Had insider access.
Family member worked for theFBI.
We were able to get tickets andI told the kids, like we have
(02:17):
to go to this inaugurationBecause, if you remember, at
that time when he wasinaugurated, it was the same
time that there were all thesemarches for women, if you
remember, you know the pink hatera, and all of this was
happening in Washington DC.
So, for my kids and it was justthree of my kids, because I
think my daughter Rory I can'tremember, you know she was at a
(02:39):
prep school and I think she hadsports or something, I can't
remember, but she couldn't joinus, but I just had the three
kids with us and theinauguration was incredible.
I mean, we did have ticketsthat were really really close up
front so we could see PresidentTrump right there.
We saw all the people on thedance and even we were kind of
high up on the US Capitol stepsand I remember looking back and
(03:01):
seeing the crowds and thinking,well, remember looking back and
seeing the crowds and thinking,well, this is a big crowd, but I
wonder if it's as big asprevious crowds, like President
Obama's crowd.
And sure enough, you know, seanSpicer, the press secretary at
the time, said Trump was sayingthat this was the most
record-setting crowd ever forinauguration and people from the
(03:22):
Obama administration weresaying for inauguration.
And people from the Obamaadministration were saying
that's so fast.
So then we're hearing that itwas moved indoors to the US
Capitol rotunda.
Personally I don't have anyinside information, but if you
just look at the characteristicsof a person and President Trump
kind of as a leader, he's very,very concerned with appearances
.
He's very, very concerned withappearances.
(03:45):
He's very concerned with how hemeasures.
He knew that it would be atalking point if the crowds were
smaller from his firstinauguration, which could be
likely because it's a secondinauguration.
But also, yes, he won, butthere's still going to be a lot
of the coverage would beprobably about January 6th and
(04:07):
he probably couldn't controleven what people in the crowds
were doing.
So there's that element.
Then there's the other elementwhere this is more vanity.
But I don't think he wanted tobe on the dais with wind also
because it was going to bearound 27 degrees I think that's
the temperature at the time ofthe inauguration, which is cold,
(04:27):
yeah, but it's not that cold.
There have been otherinaugurations that were 27
degrees, but it probably wouldhave cut down on the numbers
there.
But I also think the vanitypiece of it was not wanting the
hair to be blowing around.
But also, if you watch thecoverage now, there was
different coverage.
I think it was.
I don't know if it was poolcoverage, to be honest, because
(04:47):
I was watching the Trumpcoverage of the inauguration
because it was just it wasstraight audio and it probably
was pool coverage.
Come to think of it, hair wascovering one ear and not the
other ear and it was coveringthe ear.
That was I mean, depending onwho you believe was either
(05:09):
partially torn off or allegedlytorn off, but you couldn't tell
during the inauguration and Ithink I saw either a hearing aid
or an earpiece in there.
Not that there's anything wrongwith that, I know plenty of
people wear hearing aids but Ithought, oh, that's the first
time that I've ever seen that.
So I think bringing it insidemade sense because it was a much
more controlled environment.
(05:31):
Now for the speech itself, thetone of the speech.
It was the subdued Trump.
It was the similar cadence ofTrump when he was speaking at
the RNC, you know, theRepublican National Convention.
He was very subdued and part ofthe reason why I was so subdued
is because he was reading froma teleprompter and, based on how
(05:52):
he was looking at theteleprompter, it's as if his
advisor said to him do not veeroff that prompter ever.
Like you, stay on script theentire time.
So his head was tilted in acertain way, just looking at the
teleprompter, and it was alsothe ear that was covered was
always away from the camera view.
(06:13):
But that intimate audience alsocreated a different televised
dynamic because we didn't havethe long shot you know, see the
vast crowds and shots of thedais and shots of the crowd and
shots of the Capitol.
It was only indoors and it wasthat straight shot.
(06:35):
So it was very intimate and soyou could see facial expressions
.
You could see how people werereacting in there, for instance,
when President Trump announcedthat he was going to change the
name of the Gulf of Mexico tothe Gulf of America.
You could see in the camerashot Hillary Clinton and
President Clinton formerPresident Clinton sitting next
(06:55):
to her with this very confusedlook on his face.
You wouldn't see that in normalcoverage if it were outdoors
because everybody is so separate, you know, in their seating,
but everybody was sitting righton top of each other.
Now, going back to the tone ofthe speech, there are a lot of
references to this narrativethat Trump wanted to be the sort
(07:16):
of triumphant hero you know, ifyou will.
He cast himself as the avengerof corruption and disorder and
chosen by God to restore America, a narrative that fits right
into MAGA language and why thismatters anytime you see the
(07:40):
phrase like divinely chosen orsaved by God.
That is a very strongrhetorical stance.
It can certainly bolstersupport from the religious
segments of the electorate youknow the MAGA electorate, if you
will but it also raiseseyebrows.
Trump has a very strongconservative base, if you will,
but it also raises eyebrows.
Trump has a very strongconservative base, a very strong
(08:00):
conservative evangelical base.
So that type of rhetoric playsvery, very well with Trump
followers.
Now, next, I want to highlightsome takeaways from the address.
One it is Trump, the avenginghero.
You know.
He painted a dark portrait ofAmerica and positioned himself
as uniquely capable of saving it.
(08:23):
He talked about his life beingspared by God to accomplish this
mission.
You know, when he was inPennsylvania, butler,
pennsylvania.
It leaves this, you know,rhetorical question.
You know, does claiming adivine mission unify a nation or
does it deepen the culturaldivide?
Next, the veiled and not soveiled shots at the previous
(08:45):
leadership.
He criticized Biden'sadministration, the handling of
disasters, referencinghurricanes and wildfires as if
President Biden was controllingwildfires and hurricanes and the
management of it.
The wildfires were a littletricky for President Trump
managing them from two weeks agobecause right out the gate when
they happened, he wanted topick a fight with the governor
(09:07):
of California.
I mean, there's so muchdevastation, someone clearly got
to Trump to say you've got tostand down.
You have to stand down on thisbecause part of the reason why
that devastation was there andproof by virtue of so many
(09:31):
insurance companies cancelingpolicies because they believe in
global warming and the globalwarming was causing the dryness
in the grounds and just theweather and the Santa Anta winds
, and then they had rain andthen they had all these dry
spells, and for anadministration that is heavy on
fossil fuels and not onrenewable energy, it's a really
(09:55):
tough argument for Trump so heneeded to back off.
Plus, so many people wereimpacted by those fires, not
just wealthy wealthy people, notjust famous people and
celebrities, middle class people, lower middle class, lower
class immigrants so many peoplethere and also to rebuild so
(10:15):
much of California, they'regoing to need the immigrant
population.
So that's another challenge,you know, for Trump.
Who's allegedly starting allthese raids for illegal
immigrants, but highly unlikelyyou're going to see raids around
Los Angeles, but again, theseshots at Biden and the
administration.
He accused, you know, thegovernment leaders of failing at
(10:39):
the basics, from infrastructureto emergency management.
Fema is struggling.
I know this as a former FEMAemployee and knowing people who
work at FEMA.
They're struggling just formoney and resources and people.
So the subtext for anyoneworking in PR communication is
it's classic contrast messaging.
It's highlighting failures ofyour predecessors to justify
(11:02):
your future moves.
That is classic Trump.
This is how he does a lot ofhis messaging.
It's by taking shots ateveryone.
Next, it's the emphasis onmanifest destiny.
When he said manifest destiny,my first reaction was wait a
minute.
I had to go back into school.
Like, wait a minute, what doesmanifest destiny mean?
(11:22):
And then you're like, oh yeah,expansion.
So he's reviving this 19thcentury idea of manifest destiny
, pointing to a future thatincludes placing American flags
on Mars.
And did you see Elon Musk, ownerof SpaceX?
Like he stands up and he's likecheering on, like so goofy.
And then Elon Musk who spoke atan inaugural event with the
(11:46):
Nazi salute.
A lot of people on my livetonight were asking, like what
kind of PR help does Elon Muskneed?
He doesn't need any PR helpbecause he is on his own.
It's like he's on Mars.
There's nothing he can do tolike clean up that image.
His image is just who he is.
But it makes me wonder how longPresident Trump is going to
want to align himself withpeople like Elon Musk.
(12:08):
Because here's an interestingthing about leadership and about
power People who are in power,they're like the master of power
, right, but you never want tooverpower the master.
You never want to be smarterthan the master, better than the
master, anything like that.
And I think Elon Musk has towalk a fine line there.
So we'll see if in the future,if he is as close to Trump as he
(12:31):
is right now.
But more controversially,suggesting reclaiming the Panama
Canal, and he named somenumbers that were inaccurate.
But, oh my gosh, mount Denalito back to Mount McKinley, but
the Gulf of Mexico to the Gulfof America.
Like I said, hillary Clintonlaughing at that, that was a
head scratcher moment.
(12:52):
It's like is this a literalplan or is it just a symbolic,
like chest thumping line?
And with Trump, honestly, it'shard to say.
It is hard to say.
Next, false or dubious claims.
Like I said, he overstated theUS death toll in the building of
the Panama Canal.
Most of those deaths were fromforeign workers.
(13:12):
Many were from France.
He also claimed that manyundocumented immigrants come
from prisons and mentalinstitutions.
There's no solid evidence tosupport this and many people if
you saw this online or even inthe coverage, when he was at the
religious service, the bishopwho stood up on that pulpit and
she talked about how scaredpeople are with this
(13:33):
administration.
People are with thisadministration.
You know people who are I'mparaphrasing here LGBTQ and
trans, how they're worried fortheir safety and then talked
about the people who bus ourtables, who work the overnight
shift, who work as janitors.
You know talking about allthose people who take those jobs
, those low-level jobs.
Those are immigrants, areundocumented workers, she said.
(13:55):
Many of them pay taxes.
They're not all criminals andprisoners.
I mean the number is so minor.
It was a public rebuke from thepulpit and Trump just looks
straight ahead.
Now.
These typical fact checkablelines might cause friction
between the administration andthe press when he continues to
do this.
Every time Trump does this, hewill be called out for it.
(14:18):
There is no denying that, andit will happen right out the
gate.
Are we going to be a societythat accepts misinformation or
do we call it out even moreBecause we're starting to hear
it more?
Next is the weaponization ofgovernment, but no explicit
retribution.
So he slammed the quote radicaland corrupt establishment and
(14:39):
vowed to end the weaponizationof the Justice Department.
He felt that the Bidenadministration weaponized the
Justice Department against him.
But why it was difficult forhim to do that is because he's
someone who is known fortargeting opponents.
So he didn't explicitly pledgeto go after his political
enemies.
Many anticipate investigationsthat might happen anyway.
(15:02):
So the key PR angle here is youknow, trump frames himself as a
victim of government overreach,while many critics are pointing
out that he has a history ofpushing the DOJ to target
opponents.
So is it contradiction orcunning strategy?
All right Now.
So here are some of theinteresting moments that I
(15:23):
noticed watching because, yes,like I said, I did listen to the
speech.
Now for the attendees of theinauguration itself, I mean,
there were several formerpresidents who were there Obama,
bush, you know, clinton andBiden, the array of tense
expressions mixed with thesmirking of President Obama and
President Bush smirking at eachother.
(15:45):
President Clinton lookedconfused most of the time, like
just kind of stunned, and Bidensat there with face for a lot of
it, chief Justice, sworn bothTrump and JD Vance.
The Carrie Underwood performancewe talked about it in the live
and I had asked people if theysaw this, because I really felt
like I was the only person,because I saw a lot of
(16:06):
information out there onlineabout Carrie Underwood.
Some people were praising hersinging, some people, of course,
making fun of her.
The Daily Mail had an articlesaying that she threw a snit fit
because of the music.
Now, if you watched it, therewas like over a minute delay
where they announced CarrieUnderwood, she walks down and
then she just waits there.
She was holding the mic becausethey were waiting.
She was waiting for the musicto play.
(16:27):
But in these inaugural events orif there's any event at the
Capitol, they have a tape thatplays along with their live
singing.
And that's not just CarrieUnderwood, that's all the
artists do that, you know, forany administration.
They do that because it istough to be such a natural
singer in the open environmentlike that indoors, and the
(16:56):
planning was so quick, so youcould see that everything wasn't
effortless in terms of the flowand the planning.
And this was a real botched job, because I think what they were
struggling with was the backingtape.
How do we sync the backing tapewith the music when it's in
this hall, with the acoustics,how they are?
And then Carrie Underwood wassinging over that backing tape.
(17:19):
Maybe it was just me, but Ithought I saw that tape and
before her, like the timing wasdefinitely off, I felt for her.
I think she sounded amazing.
I can't imagine how stressfulthat would be and if she threw a
hissy fit leaving there, it'slike you know what Welcome to
the Trump administration,because that's how a lot of the
messes are.
(17:39):
But also on day one ofadministration.
I mean that is tough to getthat organized.
A lot of people were reallycalling her out for performing
at this inauguration.
A lot of people disappointed inSnoop.
They're saying you know hewould do anything for a buck.
But I have to give CarrieUnderwood some credit there,
because that would be incrediblystressful.
Then there was the fashionMelania.
(18:01):
That hat, oh my goodness.
And that hat was pulled solo.
You could barely see her eyes.
Make of that what you will.
On the live.
Many people said she lookedlike the Hamburglar Spy versus
spy, that magazine, which mademe laugh.
But so many people oh my gosh,we're making jokes about that
(18:22):
hat that the boys were playingFrisbee with it.
Afterwards I had to look at itand think, okay, what was she
thinking?
What was behind the hat?
And if you saw President Trumptry to kiss Melania, he couldn't
kiss her under the hat.
He missed her lips.
Me thinks that that hat wasdefinitely intentional.
The outfit that she wore lookedlike it could have been worn
(18:42):
for cold weather in herinauguration outfit anyway, but
she did not show even an ounceof skin, which she didn't for
the first inauguration either.
I loved her inauguration outfitthe first time that light blue
with the gloves and that cowlneck.
It was absolutely beautiful.
So she looked a little pinnedin, you know, for this
inauguration, but she is sochecked out of all of it you
(19:11):
could tell it's almost as if shewalked in and then she walked
out, you know, and went rightback to New York.
But that hat was absolutelyepic.
Also, barron Trump, presidentTrump's son with Melania.
He drew a lot of social mediabuzz.
You know a lot of people alwaystalk about how tall he is,
because he's taller than mostpeople in that room.
He's taller than his parents.
He's a very, very tall kid.
But I saw clips of him.
You know people were applaudinghim and he kind of wanted more
(19:33):
applause.
So he's definitely stepping outof the shadows.
He's in college now.
I think he's at NYU and I thinkwe're going to see a lot more
of Barron Trump Now.
You know, when we talk about thethemes, the PR strategy, you
know, again, this is all aboutAmerica first.
That's what the Trumpadministration the second time
around is going to be thispresidency.
He's revisiting a lot of thesame slogans, banking on the
(19:56):
same brand recognition.
You know it shows like thecomms angle on this.
You know lean on a tagline thatworks.
You know make America greatagain.
It's brilliant, it works.
You put it on a hat, you put iton a color, it makes sense.
You know people remember it,love it or hate it, people know
it.
The speech was also really aboutunity versus division.
There's a lot of divisionobviously between two sides here
(20:18):
.
Trump wants to really coalescethe unity within his base, but
also the moderates.
He wants to bring other peopleover as well.
Then, of course, the divineprovidence messaging, you know
speaking that his life wasspared for this greater calling.
We'll see if he will keeplanguage up like that, but you
know Trump's not known forstriking emotional chords.
(20:41):
He certainly did in thisinaugural address.
He repeated we will not allowthat to happen, which appeals to
fear and determinationcommunities, which might be the
(21:03):
effort to expand or cement thatelectoral support beyond his
typical base for otherRepublicans, because they don't
want to lose a house in two moreyears.
So how this will likely play outin the media focusing on
fact-checking, with thepotential controversies over
false claims, like even from thespeech, like the Panama Canal
death toll, the prisonnarratives.
The alternative fact storylinemight come back again.
So for PR pros out there, wenow need to anticipate any
(21:26):
ongoing corrections.
Is any company out there, aspokesperson, just going to do
the Trump method and just kindof create their numbers?
We're going to have a lot ofdiplomatic ripples, especially
when he's renaming bodies ofwaters and mountains and trying
to reclaim land like the PanamaCanal.
There's going to be someimplications there and there's
certainly going to be domesticpolicy implications as it
(21:48):
relates to immigration, climatemeasures he's undoing a lot of.
You know what Biden did forrenewable energy, but what is
the public perception going tobe?
You know, will this re-energizehis base?
Does it scare off the moderatesout there?
So big question forcommunicators how to respond to
leaders or companies or brandswho want to copy the Trump brand
(22:14):
of communication.
Are you fact-checkingaggressively or focusing on the
emotional resonance that'sdriving supporters?
Are you just going to sayanything to rev up your base or
are you going to stick to thefacts?
But maybe there isn't going tobe as much of a push from the
public perception because of aTrump presidency.
Also, you know the moral, theethical angles here.
(22:37):
When you're looking in, youknow if you were in that crowd
at the inauguration, was it asurge of patriotism or did it
feel like a chill at the thoughtof an apocalyptic undertone
here?
You know, if you're anyonewho's not a white male, do you
have something to worry aboutand you want to have that
(23:00):
empathy check?
I think if you're acommunicator, this speech might
provide reassurance for some whofeel the system is stacked
against them, but for others itcould be like a dog whistle for
authoritarian tendencies.
There was just so much going onthere and I found it enjoyable
to watch.
I really did.
My first note was LaurenSanchez, jeff Bezos' fiance, who
(23:25):
someone on my live tonight toldme their wedding is going to be
in Aspen, colorado.
It's gonna be $600 million.
And Michael Jammon, who was onmy live tonight.
He said how many crab cakes doyou need?
Like $600 million?
That's crazy money Between theplastic surgery and the bustier,
(23:45):
like the white bustier.
And you saw the memes of likeMark Zuckerberg, who was sitting
next to her, like looking downat her chest.
That was interesting to me.
Also wondering like where'sKimberly Guilfoyle, donald Jr's
girlfriend?
He dumped her just right beforethe election or right after the
election.
She's now the ambassador toGreece.
So daddy had to give herambassadorship to get her off of
(24:07):
Donald's tail.
But Donald Jr was there withhis new girlfriend, but Kimberly
was there as well with her son.
But there was just so muchgoing on and I just found it to
be fascinating.
I know a lot of people outthere probably didn't watch it,
but even if you're not aRepublican or you are staunchly
against Donald Trump, if youwork in comms, I highly, highly,
highly recommend that you watchthe address.
(24:29):
Watch it for the communication,because, love or hate President
Trump, he knows how to call abase forward.
All right, everyone.
If you found this episodeinsightful, don't forget to
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(24:52):
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All right, everyone.
Thanks for listening.
Come back for next week's bigstory.
Bye for listening.
Come back for next week's bigstory.
Bye for now.
Hey there, welcome back to the PR Breakdown
.
I'm your host, molly McPherson,and this is the podcast where
we dissect the biggest momentsin public relations and public
discourse.
We want to figure out what'sreally going on behind the
headlines.
Today on the podcast, let'sjust talk about Donald Trump's
(00:24):
second inaugural address.
I wanted to speak about theaddress only.
That was my plan for thispodcast, but there was so much
live and then I move people overto Patreon and we talked about
(00:49):
the inauguration.
My guest was Michael Jammin.
He is an Emmy-nominated writer,screenwriter, comedy writer.
He's a good friend of mine.
He's on TikTok as well.
He wrote the book A PaperOrchestra and he's worked behind
the scenes on so manytelevision shows out there and a
lot of the people who attendedthe live with us were familiar
with his work.
So we had a lot of funchit-chatting about everything.
(01:11):
But we spent a lot of timetalking about the inauguration
and a number of people you knowadmitted that they didn't watch
it, and even friends of minelike I would ask, but me, I had
to watch every minute of it.
Now the recap of theinauguration setting Donald
Trump becomes the 45th person tobe inaugurated as the 47th
(01:35):
president of the United States.
So wrap your head around thatone, if you haven't done that
already.
Also, vice President JD Vancewas sworn in and you all know
about him he's an author turnedpolitician and now he is the
vice president and the ceremonywas held at the US Capitol
Rotunda, and it was movedindoors due to the weather.
(01:56):
Now, let's start here, shall we?
Now?
Fun fact I mentioned this onthe live tonight I attended
President Trump's firstinaugural address, or his
inauguration, back in 2017.
Had insider access.
Family member worked for theFBI.
We were able to get tickets andI told the kids, like we have
(02:17):
to go to this inaugurationBecause, if you remember, at
that time when he wasinaugurated, it was the same
time that there were all thesemarches for women, if you
remember, you know the pink hatera, and all of this was
happening in Washington DC.
So, for my kids and it was justthree of my kids, because I
think my daughter Rory I can'tremember, you know she was at a
(02:39):
prep school and I think she hadsports or something, I can't
remember, but she couldn't joinus, but I just had the three
kids with us and theinauguration was incredible.
I mean, we did have ticketsthat were really really close up
front so we could see PresidentTrump right there.
We saw all the people on thedance and even we were kind of
high up on the US Capitol stepsand I remember looking back and
(03:01):
seeing the crowds and thinking,well, remember looking back and
seeing the crowds and thinking,well, this is a big crowd, but I
wonder if it's as big asprevious crowds, like President
Obama's crowd.
And sure enough, you know, seanSpicer, the press secretary at
the time, said Trump was sayingthat this was the most
record-setting crowd ever forinauguration and people from the
(03:22):
Obama administration weresaying for inauguration.
And people from the Obamaadministration were saying
that's so fast.
So then we're hearing that itwas moved indoors to the US
Capitol rotunda.
Personally I don't have anyinside information, but if you
just look at the characteristicsof a person and President Trump
kind of as a leader, he's very,very concerned with appearances
.
He's very, very concerned withappearances.
(03:45):
He's very concerned with how hemeasures.
He knew that it would be atalking point if the crowds were
smaller from his firstinauguration, which could be
likely because it's a secondinauguration.
But also, yes, he won, butthere's still going to be a lot
of the coverage would beprobably about January 6th and
(04:07):
he probably couldn't controleven what people in the crowds
were doing.
So there's that element.
Then there's the other elementwhere this is more vanity.
But I don't think he wanted tobe on the dais with wind also
because it was going to bearound 27 degrees I think that's
the temperature at the time ofthe inauguration, which is cold,
(04:27):
yeah, but it's not that cold.
There have been otherinaugurations that were 27
degrees, but it probably wouldhave cut down on the numbers
there.
But I also think the vanitypiece of it was not wanting the
hair to be blowing around.
But also, if you watch thecoverage now, there was
different coverage.
I think it was.
I don't know if it was poolcoverage, to be honest, because
(04:47):
I was watching the Trumpcoverage of the inauguration
because it was just it wasstraight audio and it probably
was pool coverage.
Come to think of it, hair wascovering one ear and not the
other ear and it was coveringthe ear.
That was I mean, depending onwho you believe was either
(05:09):
partially torn off or allegedlytorn off, but you couldn't tell
during the inauguration and Ithink I saw either a hearing aid
or an earpiece in there.
Not that there's anything wrongwith that, I know plenty of
people wear hearing aids but Ithought, oh, that's the first
time that I've ever seen that.
So I think bringing it insidemade sense because it was a much
more controlled environment.
(05:31):
Now for the speech itself, thetone of the speech.
It was the subdued Trump.
It was the similar cadence ofTrump when he was speaking at
the RNC, you know, theRepublican National Convention.
He was very subdued and part ofthe reason why I was so subdued
is because he was reading froma teleprompter and, based on how
(05:52):
he was looking at theteleprompter, it's as if his
advisor said to him do not veeroff that prompter ever.
Like you, stay on script theentire time.
So his head was tilted in acertain way, just looking at the
teleprompter, and it was alsothe ear that was covered was
always away from the camera view.
(06:13):
But that intimate audience alsocreated a different televised
dynamic because we didn't havethe long shot you know, see the
vast crowds and shots of thedais and shots of the crowd and
shots of the Capitol.
It was only indoors and it wasthat straight shot.
(06:35):
So it was very intimate and soyou could see facial expressions
.
You could see how people werereacting in there, for instance,
when President Trump announcedthat he was going to change the
name of the Gulf of Mexico tothe Gulf of America.
You could see in the camerashot Hillary Clinton and
President Clinton formerPresident Clinton sitting next
(06:55):
to her with this very confusedlook on his face.
You wouldn't see that in normalcoverage if it were outdoors
because everybody is so separate, you know, in their seating,
but everybody was sitting righton top of each other.
Now, going back to the tone ofthe speech, there are a lot of
references to this narrativethat Trump wanted to be the sort
(07:16):
of triumphant hero you know, ifyou will.
He cast himself as the avengerof corruption and disorder and
chosen by God to restore America, a narrative that fits right
into MAGA language and why thismatters anytime you see the
(07:40):
phrase like divinely chosen orsaved by God.
That is a very strongrhetorical stance.
It can certainly bolstersupport from the religious
segments of the electorate youknow the MAGA electorate, if you
will but it also raiseseyebrows.
Trump has a very strongconservative base, if you will,
but it also raises eyebrows.
Trump has a very strongconservative base, a very strong
(08:00):
conservative evangelical base.
So that type of rhetoric playsvery, very well with Trump
followers.
Now, next, I want to highlightsome takeaways from the address.
One it is Trump, the avenginghero.
You know.
He painted a dark portrait ofAmerica and positioned himself
as uniquely capable of saving it.
(08:23):
He talked about his life beingspared by God to accomplish this
mission.
You know, when he was inPennsylvania, butler,
pennsylvania.
It leaves this, you know,rhetorical question.
You know, does claiming adivine mission unify a nation or
does it deepen the culturaldivide?
Next, the veiled and not soveiled shots at the previous
(08:45):
leadership.
He criticized Biden'sadministration, the handling of
disasters, referencinghurricanes and wildfires as if
President Biden was controllingwildfires and hurricanes and the
management of it.
The wildfires were a littletricky for President Trump
managing them from two weeks agobecause right out the gate when
they happened, he wanted topick a fight with the governor
(09:07):
of California.
I mean, there's so muchdevastation, someone clearly got
to Trump to say you've got tostand down.
You have to stand down on thisbecause part of the reason why
that devastation was there andproof by virtue of so many
(09:31):
insurance companies cancelingpolicies because they believe in
global warming and the globalwarming was causing the dryness
in the grounds and just theweather and the Santa Anta winds
, and then they had rain andthen they had all these dry
spells, and for anadministration that is heavy on
fossil fuels and not onrenewable energy, it's a really
(09:55):
tough argument for Trump so heneeded to back off.
Plus, so many people wereimpacted by those fires, not
just wealthy wealthy people, notjust famous people and
celebrities, middle class people, lower middle class, lower
class immigrants so many peoplethere and also to rebuild so
(10:15):
much of California, they'regoing to need the immigrant
population.
So that's another challenge,you know, for Trump.
Who's allegedly starting allthese raids for illegal
immigrants, but highly unlikelyyou're going to see raids around
Los Angeles, but again, theseshots at Biden and the
administration.
He accused, you know, thegovernment leaders of failing at
(10:39):
the basics, from infrastructureto emergency management.
Fema is struggling.
I know this as a former FEMAemployee and knowing people who
work at FEMA.
They're struggling just formoney and resources and people.
So the subtext for anyoneworking in PR communication is
it's classic contrast messaging.
It's highlighting failures ofyour predecessors to justify
(11:02):
your future moves.
That is classic Trump.
This is how he does a lot ofhis messaging.
It's by taking shots ateveryone.
Next, it's the emphasis onmanifest destiny.
When he said manifest destiny,my first reaction was wait a
minute.
I had to go back into school.
Like, wait a minute, what doesmanifest destiny mean?
(11:22):
And then you're like, oh yeah,expansion.
So he's reviving this 19thcentury idea of manifest destiny
, pointing to a future thatincludes placing American flags
on Mars.
And did you see Elon Musk, ownerof SpaceX?
Like he stands up and he's likecheering on, like so goofy.
And then Elon Musk who spoke atan inaugural event with the
(11:46):
Nazi salute.
A lot of people on my livetonight were asking, like what
kind of PR help does Elon Muskneed?
He doesn't need any PR helpbecause he is on his own.
It's like he's on Mars.
There's nothing he can do tolike clean up that image.
His image is just who he is.
But it makes me wonder how longPresident Trump is going to
want to align himself withpeople like Elon Musk.
(12:08):
Because here's an interestingthing about leadership and about
power People who are in power,they're like the master of power
, right, but you never want tooverpower the master.
You never want to be smarterthan the master, better than the
master, anything like that.
And I think Elon Musk has towalk a fine line there.
So we'll see if in the future,if he is as close to Trump as he
(12:31):
is right now.
But more controversially,suggesting reclaiming the Panama
Canal, and he named somenumbers that were inaccurate.
But, oh my gosh, mount Denalito back to Mount McKinley, but
the Gulf of Mexico to the Gulfof America.
Like I said, hillary Clintonlaughing at that, that was a
head scratcher moment.
(12:52):
It's like is this a literalplan or is it just a symbolic,
like chest thumping line?
And with Trump, honestly, it'shard to say.
It is hard to say.
Next, false or dubious claims.
Like I said, he overstated theUS death toll in the building of
the Panama Canal.
Most of those deaths were fromforeign workers.
(13:12):
Many were from France.
He also claimed that manyundocumented immigrants come
from prisons and mentalinstitutions.
There's no solid evidence tosupport this and many people if
you saw this online or even inthe coverage, when he was at the
religious service, the bishopwho stood up on that pulpit and
she talked about how scaredpeople are with this
(13:33):
administration.
People are with thisadministration.
You know people who are I'mparaphrasing here LGBTQ and
trans, how they're worried fortheir safety and then talked
about the people who bus ourtables, who work the overnight
shift, who work as janitors.
You know talking about allthose people who take those jobs
, those low-level jobs.
Those are immigrants, areundocumented workers, she said.
(13:55):
Many of them pay taxes.
They're not all criminals andprisoners.
I mean the number is so minor.
It was a public rebuke from thepulpit and Trump just looks
straight ahead.
Now.
These typical fact checkablelines might cause friction
between the administration andthe press when he continues to
do this.
Every time Trump does this, hewill be called out for it.
(14:18):
There is no denying that, andit will happen right out the
gate.
Are we going to be a societythat accepts misinformation or
do we call it out even moreBecause we're starting to hear
it more?
Next is the weaponization ofgovernment, but no explicit
retribution.
So he slammed the quote radicaland corrupt establishment and
(14:39):
vowed to end the weaponizationof the Justice Department.
He felt that the Bidenadministration weaponized the
Justice Department against him.
But why it was difficult forhim to do that is because he's
someone who is known fortargeting opponents.
So he didn't explicitly pledgeto go after his political
enemies.
Many anticipate investigationsthat might happen anyway.
(15:02):
So the key PR angle here is youknow, trump frames himself as a
victim of government overreach,while many critics are pointing
out that he has a history ofpushing the DOJ to target
opponents.
So is it contradiction orcunning strategy?
All right Now.
So here are some of theinteresting moments that I
(15:23):
noticed watching because, yes,like I said, I did listen to the
speech.
Now for the attendees of theinauguration itself, I mean,
there were several formerpresidents who were there Obama,
bush, you know, clinton andBiden, the array of tense
expressions mixed with thesmirking of President Obama and
President Bush smirking at eachother.
(15:45):
President Clinton lookedconfused most of the time, like
just kind of stunned, and Bidensat there with face for a lot of
it, chief Justice, sworn bothTrump and JD Vance.
The Carrie Underwood performancewe talked about it in the live
and I had asked people if theysaw this, because I really felt
like I was the only person,because I saw a lot of
(16:06):
information out there onlineabout Carrie Underwood.
Some people were praising hersinging, some people, of course,
making fun of her.
The Daily Mail had an articlesaying that she threw a snit fit
because of the music.
Now, if you watched it, therewas like over a minute delay
where they announced CarrieUnderwood, she walks down and
then she just waits there.
She was holding the mic becausethey were waiting.
She was waiting for the musicto play.
(16:27):
But in these inaugural events orif there's any event at the
Capitol, they have a tape thatplays along with their live
singing.
And that's not just CarrieUnderwood, that's all the
artists do that, you know, forany administration.
They do that because it istough to be such a natural
singer in the open environmentlike that indoors, and the
(16:56):
planning was so quick, so youcould see that everything wasn't
effortless in terms of the flowand the planning.
And this was a real botched job, because I think what they were
struggling with was the backingtape.
How do we sync the backing tapewith the music when it's in
this hall, with the acoustics,how they are?
And then Carrie Underwood wassinging over that backing tape.
(17:19):
Maybe it was just me, but Ithought I saw that tape and
before her, like the timing wasdefinitely off, I felt for her.
I think she sounded amazing.
I can't imagine how stressfulthat would be and if she threw a
hissy fit leaving there, it'slike you know what Welcome to
the Trump administration,because that's how a lot of the
messes are.
(17:39):
But also on day one ofadministration.
I mean that is tough to getthat organized.
A lot of people were reallycalling her out for performing
at this inauguration.
A lot of people disappointed inSnoop.
They're saying you know hewould do anything for a buck.
But I have to give CarrieUnderwood some credit there,
because that would be incrediblystressful.
Then there was the fashionMelania.
(18:01):
That hat, oh my goodness.
And that hat was pulled solo.
You could barely see her eyes.
Make of that what you will.
On the live.
Many people said she lookedlike the Hamburglar Spy versus
spy, that magazine, which mademe laugh.
But so many people oh my gosh,we're making jokes about that
(18:22):
hat that the boys were playingFrisbee with it.
Afterwards I had to look at itand think, okay, what was she
thinking?
What was behind the hat?
And if you saw President Trumptry to kiss Melania, he couldn't
kiss her under the hat.
He missed her lips.
Me thinks that that hat wasdefinitely intentional.
The outfit that she wore lookedlike it could have been worn
(18:42):
for cold weather in herinauguration outfit anyway, but
she did not show even an ounceof skin, which she didn't for
the first inauguration either.
I loved her inauguration outfitthe first time that light blue
with the gloves and that cowlneck.
It was absolutely beautiful.
So she looked a little pinnedin, you know, for this
inauguration, but she is sochecked out of all of it you
(19:11):
could tell it's almost as if shewalked in and then she walked
out, you know, and went rightback to New York.
But that hat was absolutelyepic.
Also, barron Trump, presidentTrump's son with Melania.
He drew a lot of social mediabuzz.
You know a lot of people alwaystalk about how tall he is,
because he's taller than mostpeople in that room.
He's taller than his parents.
He's a very, very tall kid.
But I saw clips of him.
You know people were applaudinghim and he kind of wanted more
(19:33):
applause.
So he's definitely stepping outof the shadows.
He's in college now.
I think he's at NYU and I thinkwe're going to see a lot more
of Barron Trump Now.
You know, when we talk about thethemes, the PR strategy, you
know, again, this is all aboutAmerica first.
That's what the Trumpadministration the second time
around is going to be thispresidency.
He's revisiting a lot of thesame slogans, banking on the
(19:56):
same brand recognition.
You know it shows like thecomms angle on this.
You know lean on a tagline thatworks.
You know make America greatagain.
It's brilliant, it works.
You put it on a hat, you put iton a color, it makes sense.
You know people remember it,love it or hate it, people know
it.
The speech was also really aboutunity versus division.
There's a lot of divisionobviously between two sides here
(20:18):
.
Trump wants to really coalescethe unity within his base, but
also the moderates.
He wants to bring other peopleover as well.
Then, of course, the divineprovidence messaging, you know
speaking that his life wasspared for this greater calling.
We'll see if he will keeplanguage up like that, but you
know Trump's not known forstriking emotional chords.
(20:41):
He certainly did in thisinaugural address.
He repeated we will not allowthat to happen, which appeals to
fear and determinationcommunities, which might be the
(21:03):
effort to expand or cement thatelectoral support beyond his
typical base for otherRepublicans, because they don't
want to lose a house in two moreyears.
So how this will likely play outin the media focusing on
fact-checking, with thepotential controversies over
false claims, like even from thespeech, like the Panama Canal
death toll, the prisonnarratives.
The alternative fact storylinemight come back again.
So for PR pros out there, wenow need to anticipate any
(21:26):
ongoing corrections.
Is any company out there, aspokesperson, just going to do
the Trump method and just kindof create their numbers?
We're going to have a lot ofdiplomatic ripples, especially
when he's renaming bodies ofwaters and mountains and trying
to reclaim land like the PanamaCanal.
There's going to be someimplications there and there's
certainly going to be domesticpolicy implications as it
(21:48):
relates to immigration, climatemeasures he's undoing a lot of.
You know what Biden did forrenewable energy, but what is
the public perception going tobe?
You know, will this re-energizehis base?
Does it scare off the moderatesout there?
So big question forcommunicators how to respond to
leaders or companies or brandswho want to copy the Trump brand
(22:14):
of communication.
Are you fact-checkingaggressively or focusing on the
emotional resonance that'sdriving supporters?
Are you just going to sayanything to rev up your base or
are you going to stick to thefacts?
But maybe there isn't going tobe as much of a push from the
public perception because of aTrump presidency.
Also, you know the moral, theethical angles here.
(22:37):
When you're looking in, youknow if you were in that crowd
at the inauguration, was it asurge of patriotism or did it
feel like a chill at the thoughtof an apocalyptic undertone
here?
You know, if you're anyonewho's not a white male, do you
have something to worry aboutand you want to have that
(23:00):
empathy check?
I think if you're acommunicator, this speech might
provide reassurance for some whofeel the system is stacked
against them, but for others itcould be like a dog whistle for
authoritarian tendencies.
There was just so much going onthere and I found it enjoyable
to watch.
I really did.
My first note was LaurenSanchez, jeff Bezos' fiance, who
(23:25):
someone on my live tonight toldme their wedding is going to be
in Aspen, colorado.
It's gonna be $600 million.
And Michael Jammon, who was onmy live tonight.
He said how many crab cakes doyou need?
Like $600 million?
That's crazy money Between theplastic surgery and the bustier,
(23:45):
like the white bustier.
And you saw the memes of likeMark Zuckerberg, who was sitting
next to her, like looking downat her chest.
That was interesting to me.
Also wondering like where'sKimberly Guilfoyle, donald Jr's
girlfriend?
He dumped her just right beforethe election or right after the
election.
She's now the ambassador toGreece.
So daddy had to give herambassadorship to get her off of
(24:07):
Donald's tail.
But Donald Jr was there withhis new girlfriend, but Kimberly
was there as well with her son.
But there was just so muchgoing on and I just found it to
be fascinating.
I know a lot of people outthere probably didn't watch it,
but even if you're not aRepublican or you are staunchly
against Donald Trump, if youwork in comms, I highly, highly,
highly recommend that you watchthe address.
(24:29):
Watch it for the communication,because, love or hate President
Trump, he knows how to call abase forward.
All right, everyone.
If you found this episodeinsightful, don't forget to
subscribe, leave a review andshare it with anyone who's
obsessed with PR strategies andcrisis comes, as we all are.
Also, this is a time that Iwant to tell you that I have
(24:52):
joined Substack.
You can find me under the PRbreakdown with Molly McPherson
that's the name of this podcast.
So you can look up MollyMcPherson or the PR breakdown.
It will bring youerson.
That's the name of this podcast.
So you can look up MollyMcPherson or the PR Breakdown,
it will bring you there.
I have different levels ofmembership.
I have a free membership, whereyou will receive a post from me
every week highlighting ideas,thoughts and lessons from weekly
(25:13):
podcasts.
You'll also get links toongoing lives that I'm going to
have on YouTube.
And then I'll have a secondmembership.
That will be a paid membership.
That's $7.
And that membership you'regoing to get more of the insider
off the record information fromme.
You're going to get more posts,more background, more intel,
(25:34):
and then I also am going to beintroducing a new segment.
It's all around this idea ofasking Molly, I'm going to get
into the PR for people game.
I love talking about publicrelations, whether it's with my
clients, people on social mediaor you listeners to the podcast.
I love the PR of it.
But if you know me well or ifyou listen closely, a lot of
(25:56):
what I talk about is just thepersonal PR.
It's just the personalcommunication tactics.
It's the personal battles.
It's the personal challengesthat people have on their own or
together.
It's like PR for peopleproblems.
Ask me questions about anythingrelated to PR, celebrity news,
(26:25):
politicians or life, becauseit's all the same.
It doesn't matter if it'sprofessional or personal, it's
all the same.
So definitely check out mySubstack.
You can find me the PRBreakdown with Molly McPherson
on Substack.
All right, everyone.
Thanks for listening.
Come back for next week's bigstory.
Bye for listening.
Come back for next week's bigstory.
Bye for now.
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