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Hey folks, Barb here. Here's a recording of my latest cafe note, a swift way to change the conversation.

As always, please write to us with your thoughts and questions at letters atcafe.com.

Dear listener, who in their right mind goes after someone who is arguably the most popular person in the world?

On Sunday, Donald Trump posted on Truth Social, in all caps, I hate Taylor Swift.

The pop music star had endorsed Trump's opponent for the presidency, Vice President Kamala Harris, following

last week's debate. Certainly, the endorsement carried sway with swifties everywhere. But why

would Trump pick a fight with a person who's so popular? Trump's response is a classic

manipulator's move. The goal is twofold, to distract and to divide.

First, Trump clearly wanted to change the conversation in a week when he faced a deluge of bad

headlines, from his widely panned debate performance to his embrace of false claims that Haitian immigrants in Springfield, Ohio,

were eating cats and dogs. On Sunday, the pet eating scandal grew even more outrageous when

Trump's running mate, J.D. Vance, admitted on television that he had to, quote, create stories, unquote, to force the media to pay

attention to immigration policies. The false claim, which Springfield's mayor has refuted,

prompted bomb threats at schools, hospitals, and city hall. Trump's late morning post about Swift got people talking about his insult of the singer

instead of the news that had shadowed him all week.

This strategy is one that's been used by other authoritarian throughout history.

...