When Mitt Romney called Republican frontrunner Donald Trump a “phony” and a “fraud,” he may have been more right than he knew. Trump may have given his most honest advice on the campaign trail. In an underreported story from the Wisconsin primary, The Donald encouraged young people not to seek out their betters to learn from them, but to surround themselves with “unsuccessful people” … perhaps because they are easier to con?
Trump’s speech mostly repeated platitudes, such as the importance of loving your work, even if you don’t make a lot of money, and the value of having a good family. Naturally, he articulated these truths in his hallmark bumbling, stream-of-consciousness fashion. But among all these ancient pieces of wisdom was a stunning admission.
“You’ll find that when you become very successful, the people that you will like best are the people that are less successful than you, because when you go to a table you can tell them all of these wonderful stories, and they’ll sit back and listen,” Trump explained. What “wonderful stories” do you tell exactly? Oh yeah, outright lies. Blatant untruths like saying Ted Cruz’s father was involved in the assassination of John F. Kennedy.
But notice how revealing this comment is — any fiction writer could easily fit these words into the mouth of a con man. If you surround yourself with “less successful” people — with gullible people — you can tell them “wonderful stories” and they’ll get sucked in. Enron scammers, are you taking notes?
For emphasis, The Donald asked, “Does that make sense to you? OK? Always be around unsuccessful people because everybody will respect you. Do you understand that?”
Unfortunately, it seems that many do not understand. Some conservative news outlets and media personalities have bought into Trump’s bravado, and many of us will not forget their lapse in judgment. Although The Donald runs as an anti-establishment insurgent, he fits every facet of the typical “establishment” candidate to a T. Although he says he’ll defend Christians, he bragged about cheating on his wives and said he’s never asked God for forgiveness.
But The Donald’s business practices illustrate his cons best. “Trump University” is now synonymous with scams, and rightly so. The Donald also consistently bilked contractors and others who did business with him. He paid less than the agreed-upon cost, and told each person he cheated that they could sue him if they wanted. Is that how we want our president doing business?
A huge portion of the Republican Party does not seem to know it has been conned. Well done, Mr. Trump. Clearly all scammers everywhere should take the advice of this man.
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