Pat Boone, the 1950s music icon and longtime Donald Trump supporter, offered the president two words of advice in a personal video message shared on social media.
Boone, 92, said in the two-minute video that he considered Trump a friend and recalled warning him before he first took office that he should cut out the childish insults and “not be doing something that makes you sound like a schoolboy on the playground, that if you want to be president you should sound like a president, be presidential.”
But Trump “did not take my advice much at the time,” he said.
Boone said he now felt Trump is “very tired” and feared “that many of us haven’t prayed enough for you because I think you’re wearing out and you’re feeling the pressure and expressing yourself in ways that are not becoming to you.”
He continued, “They’re not presidential. So may I recommend something very highly: that you be quiet, that you quit talking about the things that you want to be, people to be proud of. Let them discover those things for themselves.”
Boone also urged Trump to “be polite to women.” He even floated the idea of a press conference with no reporters present, so that “as you hear nothing, the deafening roar of silence, it may convince you that, being like Ronald Reagan and using a sense of humor, as well as being very polite and respectful, will get you more hearers, better reporting, more support while there is still time.”
Boone ended the video, saying, “I say this as a friend: try for just a little while to be quiet.”
In the accompanying social media post, Boone wrote that he’d “known and supported President Trump for many years” and that his thoughts were offered “in the spirit of friendship and concern.”
He said, “Sometimes the strongest thing a leader can do is say less, listen more, and let his actions speak for themselves. I’m praying for our President, as I hope all Americans will, and I’m asking him to remember the example of Ronald Reagan: humor, courtesy, respect, and a presidential manner even in difficult times.”
Boone concluded the post, “Mr. President, I say this as a friend. For just a little while, try being quiet. You may be surprised how loudly that silence speaks.”