Well, it happened yet again and politicians still haven’t learned this simple lesson.

When you go on TV immediately after the President, you will always look like a runner-up, a second fiddle. It’s just a fact of life and a case of basic showmanship.

It’s simply the imagery of the whole event. Last night, Trump took to the national airwaves to argue his case for the border wall. There he was, sitting behind the historic presidential desk named the “Resolute” used by countless presidents before him including Reagan and Kennedy. Behind him was the backdrop of the Oval Office dripping with history and authority.

How many historic speeches have we seen from this same office? Wars have been declared and ended from this desk. And who can forget Reagan’s historic speech after the Space Shuttle Challenger disaster. A moving and widely acclaimed speech he made while sitting at the same desk and in the same office as Trump addressed the nation last night.

And then comes the rebuttal. Chuck Schumer and Nancy Pelosi awkwardly stood next to each other behind a one-person podium in what can only be described as a bizarre and poorly thought out rebuttal. Of course, it doesn’t help that Chuck and Nancy together look like old caretakers at a haunted mansion from some Halloween movie.

But the truth is, no matter what Pelosi and Schumer said or did, it wouldn’t have made a difference because the contrast is just so stark between their hastily constructed video reply and a speech directly from the historic Oval Office.

When the President of the United States gives a speech from the Oval Office, it carries a huge amount of weight and authority. Anybody who is shown after such a performance will automatically look like a runner-up.

It’s simple showmanship really. The people doing the rebuttal are always upstaged by the bigger name which happens to be the President. It’s like trying to go on stage after The Beatles. Nobody ever wants to because you will automatically look small no matter what they do.

This is just the latest example of many but politicians never seem to learn. They are tempted by the chance to outsmart the President himself on national TV and steal the spotlight. But it’s a mirage, it never works and the person doing the rebuttal always ends up looking like a fool.

Not long ago Joe Kennedy tried his hand at delivering a rebuttal after Trump’s State of The Union Address. He looked like an awkward teenager and was widely made fun of for wearing too much lip balm. It was disaster. There is no way you can go on TV immediately after the President just delivered a speech to standing applause in the House Chamber and expect to upstage him.

But it does show how truly self-centered and delusional these politicians like Schumer and Pelosi really are. They feel they can upstage the President himself when in reality it is impossible to do so.

So to all you politicians out there, please listen up and save yourself any future embarrassment. Don’t try to upstage the President and don’t think your rebuttal will steal the spotlight and make you a media darling. It never works and all you end up doing is looking like a fool.

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