by BB Curtis

Trump has used that phrase many times about a few famous calls.  He brought it back up again in the CNN “town hall” on May 10, 2023, which I didn’t watch on purpose.  I saw a replay of part of a clip where he refers to the perfect call between him and the Georgia officials concerning finding votes for him and got PO’d all over again.  I don’t know about you; but, not only have I never heard anyone else call a phone call “perfect”, I have never described a phone call as “perfect” even though I’ve worked in management in several customer service places of business and in third party collections for a few different companies where all we did was speak to people on the phone either selling something or selling people on paying their past due bills.  I’m sure you’ve all heard the outgoing recorded messages concerning phone calls being recorded for training purposes.  Those positions have ongoing training for the life of the position.  Still, there were no “perfect” calls. 

The first time I heard Trump use that phrase was in relation to the July 2019 call with President Zelenskyy of Ukraine.  My very first thought was, “That’s an odd word to use to describe a phone call.”  After I heard a few more news networks speak on the subject that day, I thought, “That’s an odd word to use to describe a phone call, unless there’s an option for an imperfect phone call.”  So, what would constitute an imperfect phone call?  Not an inaccurate phone call.  Not an inappropriate phone call.  Not an ineffective phone call.  Not a non-productive phone call.  I needed to figure out how a phone call is imperfect and maybe I can then see what would comprise a perfect one.  I really wanted to hear the phone call from July 25, 2019, between Trump and President Zelenskyy, and it took two months to get a rough transcription.  Where’s the tape of this phone call?

So 60 days later we have something that someone typed.  Where’s the tape?  I want to HEAR the phone call.  I want the nuances of vocal intonation.  I want to hear the wink-wink in the voice.  The transcript even says that it’s not verbatim and then it repeats by saying it’s not word-for-word.  (Trump’s redundancy or someone else’s?)  I want to hear Trump’s spoken words, damn it.  I don’t trust a typed piece that took 60 days to manufacture.  This told me two things.  1) The transcript is not accurate.  2) These guys are really slow.  Because of this and a couple other clues, I was moving toward what makes an imperfect call, centering in on the definition.  Baby steps, baby steps. 

As time went by and news stations kept hacking away and Trump kept dancing around and outside reality, my initial suspicions became more and concrete.

We had the TV interview with Trump and President Zelenskyy in New York on September 25, 2019, where the question is posed to Zelenskyy if had felt any pressure during the phone call in question.  There was a suspicious interaction at that point that caught my attention.  In a court of law that would have caused an objection from the opposing attorney, “I object.  Leading the witness!”  and the judge’s response, “Sustained.”  I contend that Zelenskyy didn’t answer honestly due to the pressure of that exact moment live and on TV, forget about the phone call. Remember what’s at stake.  Unfortunately, Ukraine has been dependent on support from the US. 

On November 15, 2019, the rough transcript of the April 21st call between Trump and Zelenskyy was released and found to be different from the descriptions of the call from our officials along the way.  Sometimes it’s the accumulation of small pieces.

Let me define an imperfect call.  An imperfect call is when the one with all the power who is trying to force the hand of the other person on the call says something that spills the beans on the real reason for the call.  You see, Trump didn’t make any missteps that told Zelenskyy that he was being played for a fool; money, weapons, training, and support were being withheld in exchange for information we are not sure can be supplied from Ukraine; and there’s a quid pro quo with that money, etc. as bait.  In Trump’s mind, he didn’t say anything stupid that could implicate him in any sort of crime or inappropriate behavior for which he could be prosecuted.  That’s a perfect phone call.  That’s why he has called several calls “perfect.”  No Trump misspeaks that can get him in legal trouble.  The Godfather remains above the schlock that puts other people with imperfect phone calls in prison.

Any time Trump tries to sell you something related to a perfect phone call, it’s a load of crap.

P.S. I still want the tape.

©  Bobbi Bartsch Curtis, 2023, All Rights Reserved.