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Chicago City Wire

Tuesday, April 16, 2024

'Dilbert' cartoonist says Trump's tweets 'draws attention to where he wants you to focus'

Scott Adams says he senses a method to what some see as the madness of all President Donald Trump’s tweeting.

“In terms of a pattern, we see he always draws attention to where he wants you to focus, even if it’s provocative the way he does it,” the "Dilbert" cartoonist said during a recent “Chicago's Morning Answer” radio show appearance.

Dan Proft, one of the hosts of "Chicago's Morning Answer," is a principal in Local Government Information Services, which owns this publication. 

Adams looked on anew over the last several days after the issue of the president’s tweeting again rose to center stage after he tweeted an anti-Muslim video that drew the public rebuke of British Prime Minister Theresa May and other international leaders.

In all, Trump retweeted three videos from the far-right group Britain First, which The Guardian reports also prompted the UK’s ambassador to Washington to complain to the White House about the president’s actions.  

Justice Minister Sam Gyimah went as far as to say he is now “deeply uncomfortable” about the prospect of Trump soon making a visit to the country, The Guardian reported.

“You can draw your own conclusions about the ethics or mortality of any of it,” Adams said. “In terms of the pattern we see, he always draws attention to where he wants you to focus.”

Beyond that, Adams hinted he sees Trump as pretty much being your typical tweeter.

“Twitter is sort of its own universe in which forwarded things of a dubious source is pretty routine,” he said. “The president is probably one of the most effective tweeters in world, but he tweets like a regular person in that he makes the same mistakes. He’s willing to take some punches in terms of his accuracy and even his character. But he still makes you think where he wants you to think.”

In the end, Adams said many of Trump’s tweets typically achieve their desired effect.

“He’s often directionally accurate, meaning the thing he’s pointing you toward is, by Republican view, a greater good,” he said.

Still, Adams admitted he was a bit surprised to see Trump weigh in on the growing sexual harassment scandals that recently ensnared “NBC Today Show” anchor Matt Lauer.

“You wouldn’t have expected that,” he said of Trump publicly tweeting on the situation, given he once stood accused of similar actions from as many as 20 women.

“The play here is he is consistent in jabbing his critics wherever he can,” Adams said. “I think most of people he has commented on have been critics of his.”