It’s hard to say how that would have played out. You defend it by saying “that’s a common saying I was quoting.” And see how long that plays out in the news cycle. Yet here we are 20+ years later joking about his stumbling over this simple expression. Is that better or worse than if the news had the “shame on me” sound bite on repeat for a few days? Which we most likely would not be talking about right now? I don’t know.
That was actually a rare moment of quick thinking on his part. The media would have loved to have a sound bite of him saying, “shame on me.”
It’s hard to say how that would have played out. You defend it by saying “that’s a common saying I was quoting.” And see how long that plays out in the news cycle. Yet here we are 20+ years later joking about his stumbling over this simple expression. Is that better or worse than if the news had the “shame on me” sound bite on repeat for a few days? Which we most likely would not be talking about right now? I don’t know.