Bully Pulpit

He stood there at the podium before a room of perplexed reporters.

You're not going to get me to negotiate with myself, he said. I know what you're trying to do.

You're not going to get me -> I refuse:
    I refuse to negotiate with myself.

negotiate -> answer:
    I refuse to answer myself.

myself -> you:
    I refuse to answer you.

Which makes it so much easier to understand his emphatic follow-up, So don't bother to ask me.

Bully pulpit, indeed.

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Hat tip: Political Animal

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