◆ Agenda:’Buy American’ (Biden) vs. ‘America First’ (Trump)
The first point to watch is the agenda. It is a question of’what’ to communicate with. Both Biden and Trump are focusing on economic issues such as recovery and vitality of the US economy, so they seem similar, but the specific policy content and results are different. It is the slogan that shows this symbolically. Trump has promoted’America First’ throughout his tenure. It is literally American priority. Whether or not it contributes to the national interests of the United States was a key criterion for decision making. To this end, conflicts and frictions with long-time allies as well as other countries with different ideologies were immortal. Biden also values the economy. Immediately after taking office, on January 25 (local time), he signed an executive order of’Buy American’. When the U.S. federal government builds infrastructure or buys equipment such as automobiles, it is said to use U.S. products to help U.S. manufacturing.
There are some concerns that Biden will be resembling Trump over measures to encourage US-made use, but Biden is making it clear that he will pursue a’Buy American’ policy by working with allies rather than conflict with foreign countries. . It is read that Biden also clearly recognizes that the ultimate criterion for the success or failure of the president or the government depends on economic performance, although the method of promotion is thus different from Trump. One of the secrets of Clinton’s victory over Bush in the past presidential election and gaining public support, “The problem is the economy! This idiot!” (It’s the economy, stupid!)” is naturally reminiscent of overlapping.
◆ Media relations: mutual respect (biden) vs. Hostility (Trump)
Biden and Trump show a marked difference in their view of the media. With the exception of a few media outlets, such as Fox News, which are friendly to him, Trump has been hostile throughout his tenure, handling trash that spreads fake news, including the Washington Post and other influential media. On the other hand, Biden is showing a difference in using the media properly as his allies while respecting the role of the media. They don’t split the media based on pros and cons or gains or losses. This resulted in the majority of the influential media in the course of the presidential campaign holding anti-Trump and pro-Biden lines.
From the beginning of his inauguration, Trump responded harshly to reporters’ questioning attacks, often ending with blushing, while conducting Q&A with reporters in the White House briefing room. On the other hand, the media report that Biden was friendly from beginning to end as he naturally took over the sharp questioning of reporters at a press conference held at the White House right after taking office, symbolically shows the relationship between Biden and the media. The fact that the White House resumed subscriptions to the New York Times (NYT) and the Washington Post (WP) when Biden took office also indicates that relations between the US president and the media have been restored to normal.
◆ Use of social media: moderation (biden) vs. Men’s Feet (Trump)
Trump and Biden are showing a big difference in the use of social media, which is the trend of communication these days. Trump has been using social media, such as Twitter, to send his message directly to the public, even though he may not have a smooth relationship with the traditional media. It was said that Trump fed on Twitter, and just before the retirement of the president, the Twitter account was suspended.
While the way the President communicates directly with the public through social media has the advantage of delivering the President’s message honestly without addition or subtraction, there is always a problem with confusion and confusion due to mistakes if it is overrun without a safety device to filter it in the middle. do. During Trump’s tenure, the president of the United States, who is neither another country nor the world’s president, was often the trigger of the crisis, not the manager of the crisis. Biden also uses social media as well as traditional media as a communication tool, but compared to Trump, it is used in moderation and sent out refined messages, which makes it a comparison. As such, the Biden administration shows that the presidential crisis factors will be reduced.
◆ Communication attitude: humility and humility (biden) vs. Self-Chan and Manager (Trump)
Trump had many self-proclaimed self-service messages. As we have often seen in responding to Corona 19, as Trump exaggerates with unverified data to emphasize performance, it was often counterattacked by the opposition and the media. It is still difficult to find this kind of message from Biden. Even with the same message, it seems to be a stance to see that it is difficult to elicit sympathy from the listeners if they present their own achievements, not by a third party.
For Trump, it has been difficult to find’humble’ or’kindness’. On the other hand, Biden humbles himself and instills an image of kindness in his body. At a press conference at the White House on January 25th, Biden greeted the questioner, calling the name of the Washington Post reporter. To a Bloomberg news reporter who would ask additional questions, the correspondent said, jokingly replied, “I always ask me difficult questions and set me up, but I like him anyway.” In dealing with the media, even if the same message is sent out, the reaction of the other person is inevitably different depending on the attitude and attitude they perform.
The president’s communication with the public is not only in words or in writing. It has the image of Trump spending almost the weekend at the golf course while in office. On the other hand, the fact that Biden visited the church on the first Sunday of his inauguration to worship and visited a bakery in downtown Washington with his children and grandchildren on his way home shows the image of a president that sets him apart from Trump.
It is difficult to conceive the superiority and inferiority by unilaterally comparing Trump, who did not hesitate to become an issue maker with his hot and unpredictable behavior, and Biden, who uses the communication method of the precision engineering method. However, at least in terms of national crisis management, Biden is expected to manage various national crises more stably than Trump. However, what is regrettable is that the gossip from the White House, which sometimes made people all over the world full of conviction like Trump’s days, and sometimes forced them to laugh, will be greatly reduced.
Uber Visiting Columnist Yoo Jae-woong (Professor, Department of Medical Promotion Design, Eulji University, Ph.D. in Journalism and Broadcasting)
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