Researching the Vital Speech of the Week, I read the official White House transcript from Vice President Pence's speech in Munich on Saturday:
To them and to all of you, it’s my great honor to speak to you today, on behalf of a champion of freedom and a champion of a strong national defense, the 45th President of the United States of America, President Donald Trump. (Applause.)
I'd heard that speech on C-SPAN, and I didn't remember that (Applause).
I remembered right.
USA Today reports that the transcript wasn't a transcript after all. It was prepared remarks—distributed before its delivery—with the (Applause.) notations already written in!
For those of you who aren't speechwriters, this simply isn't done. Prepared remarks are distributed ahead of time and reporters are advised to "check against delivery." Just as prepared remarks cannot anticipate ad-libs, they do not contain predictions of applause, or laughter (or stone cold silence, as the case may be).
At any rate—despite the fact of the silence Pence's Trump introduction now famously received—the White House has seen no need to remove the (Applause.) that was expected, but that never happened. One hand clapping, I guess.
How will historians know what really happened during this presidency? They'll have to rely on fake news accounts, I guess.
Not long ago I advised a speechwriter friend to tell her college-age son to decline a White House writing internship—normally the most prized and valuable credential a young person can have, going into the Washington workforce. I feel even less conflicted about that, I guess.
Because one shouldn't intern for children.
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