The Deflection Trap. What Trump's 60 Minutes Interview Really Told Us

About this episode

Molly McPherson discusses the Deflection Trap in crisis management as illustrated by Trump's recent interview.

When a presidential interview goes off the rails, it is rarely an accident. It is a pattern. A man tried to kill the president on Saturday. By Tuesday, the dominant news story was a court filing about a ballroom. That is not a glitch in the news cycle. That is a Trap working exactly as designed. This week, I am introducing the fourth Trap in the Crisis Doctrine. The Deflection Trap. The four-move playbook leaders run when they cannot afford to answer the question they were asked. I pulled 8,7...

People in this episode

Host: Molly McPherson

Topics covered

• politics
• media analysis
• crisis management
• interview techniques
• news cycles

Keywords

• Trump
• 60 Minutes
• Deflection Trap
• Crisis Doctrine
• media manipulation

More episodes of The PR Breakdown with Molly McPherson

• The New Orleans Five and the ADA's Worst Week · June 12, 2026 · 57 min
• How Scott Pelley Turned His Firing into a Reputational Win · June 9, 2026 · 43 min
• How Amy Gertner's 20-Take Video Out-Performed Graham Platner's Own Response · June 5, 2026 · 36 min
• Damage Control: The Vanishing of Tom Kean Jr. · May 27, 2026 · 15 min
• The Blake Lively PR Disaster No One Is Talking About · May 19, 2026 · 8 min
• Why Mike Vrabel Is Lying, Why Dolly Parton Isn't, and What Blake Lively's Settlement Reveals · May 13, 2026 · 18 min