David Diaz, Managing Director, Davenport Laroche

Former Trump campaign manager Corey Lewandowski is no stranger to the harsh light of constant, barbed political PR. During the campaign, Lewandowski was excoriated in the press for “getting rough” with a reporter at a campaign event, but he weathered that storm by offering a clear and simple version of events his supporters could use to defend his actions. 

After leaving the Trump team, Lewandowski found a place as a strong surrogate for the President on TV news. Last week, Lewandowski was doing that job, supporting the administration’s position on immigration, in a standard split-screen with his “opponent,” DNC adviser Zac Petkanas. During the exchange, when Petkanas was talking about a young immigrant girl with Down syndrome, Lewandowski made a mocking sound similar to, “Womp, womp.” 

Petkanas erupted. The next morning, when a clip of the event landed on social media, so did countless people who only caught that segment of the event and sided with Petkanas. 

Lewandowski was invited back on TV to speak with Fox News anchor Sandra Smith, who asked him about his comments. The veteran campaign man didn’t take the bait. Instead, he fired back at Petkanas for trying to “politicize” the issue. 

Smith wasn’t letting him off easy, though: “But to be clear, you were not speaking about the young girl with Down Syndrome who was separated from her parents at the border?” 

That’s when Lewandowski made clear what his side of the narrative would be: “I don't know the young girl… I was mocking Zac, a liberal Democratic National Committee activist who is doing nothing but politicizing the issue of making an example of one particular child.” 

There, in a single sentence, Lewandowski gave his supporters a clear, simple, and direct line of argument, chock full of terms they would repeat with specific emphasis. Lewandowski would offer more in his defense, but that was the core of his message. In offering a clear and simple response to the allegations being made against him, Lewandowski defined his position and offered his supporters something they could repeated to their friends who criticized him. In a constant, social media driven communication environment, clarity and simplicity of message can be very effective. 

Agree with Mr. Lewandowski or not, his technique in rebuffing the Petkanas’ allegations was deft and effective. By lunchtime that day, his version of events was being used by countless supporters across multiple social media platforms to push back against those who didn’t appreciate his response to Petkanas’ story.