There's an awesome gaslighting pattern to the Trump administration. I think I almost have it pegged:
Some administration crisis or scandal breaks:
Step 1: DENY
Phase one - a general denial. Say it didn't happen, call it "fake news" or blame it on journalists that are out to get Trump. If that doesn't work -
Phase two - present "alternative facts" and point to fringe sources.
Step 2: DEFLECT
If attention hasn't moved on, the White House then starts to deflect without acknowledging the story true.
Phase one - but Obama/Hillary did something worse or similar. If nothing comes to mind, change the subject or self praise an unrelated topic (if they insist, hide in the bushes).
Phase two - Sudden action. Sign an executive order out of the blue, announce a new initiative with no detail, or if all else fails - bomb someone.
Step 3: ACCEPT, MINIMIZE and EXPLAIN
If you can, go back to deny and move on, even if evidence is directly contrary to the denial. But if attention still hasn't moved on and the story has gained traction as truth, acknowledge the truth and start damage control.
Phase one - so what? Yes that happened, but it really doesn't matter because [reasons].
Phase two - It had to be done for the greater good/security/humanitarian reasons/reasons we can't divulge.
Phase three - Yes it happened, but it wasn't illegal.
Step 4: If required, recycle back to deflection, now acknowledging as true. If new elements of the story emerge, repeat entire process.
- - -
It's really becoming a speedy art form, but it burns through credibility and seems to be burning through spokesman just as fast. The current situation evolved so fast, it seems to have skipped the deflection phase entirely:
1) General denial. I was there, it didn't happen. Russia even called it fake news.
2) Deflection was skipped here, because after the denial multiple news agencies reported verifying the story overnight.
3) Accept the basic premise but point out what wasn't said, then minimize the importance of anything that was shared. Then at 3AM Eastern Time, the Tweeter in Chief acknowledge he did share intelligence, said he did it for humanitarian reasons, and then said it wasn't illegal. All in two back to back tweets just hours after having a cabinet members say "I was there, it didn't happen."
4) We are now back to deflection - Trump tweeted 2 hours ago:
I have been asking Director Comey & others, from the beginning of my administration, to find the LEAKERS in the intelligence community.....
This tweet is awesome. Just truly amazing with 144 characters. Lets ignore the passive voice, all caps, and 5 ellipses in a single tweet from the President.....
He fired Comey, he isn't a director of anything.
Plus, Trump was a huge fan of leaks, praising them frequently during the campaign and all the way until leaks showed Flynn wasn't transparent with his Russian ties, and then that Trump was warned about that and didn't do anything until it was leaked. In short,
he liked leaks until they started making him look bad.
Now he's mad about a leak about him leaking classified information. So are definitely recycling the Deflection angle. I'd expect Phase 2 sudden action soon.