Many Americans are tired of the same ol' political establishment, with their talk of policy that's way over our heads, ignoring the issues, or the incessant lying.
A good portion of the GOP vote have tossed their hat into Donald Trump's ring. Republicans, Democrats, and the rest are perplexed at how well he has done so far. I'm one of them.
Those who support Trump seem to overlook things that have dominated our vote in the past: strategic policies and hopeful charisma.
Two things Trump seems to lack.
I breezed through a transcript of conversation that he had with The Washington Post editorial board yesterday, and found myself analyzing his responses that took entirely too long. Much of what I read was incoherent, and his repetition of words and phrases left much to be desired from an interview.
Seriously, do we really know what he'll do when he's in office? I'm always confused by his banter.
You can read it for yourself (or listen to the audio) here.
I would have liked to have heard more about his plans rather than about buildings or his hands.
But only presentation seems to matter. Not the character or true business deals gone wrong.
A coworker shared an NPR transcript with me about Trump's finances in the '90s. From the transcript, "He had taken on too much debt in a number of different areas, including his other casinos. And so when it came time to pay the interest payments on his junk bonds, the Trump company finances went into a tailspin."
Within ONE YEAR, the Taj Mahal filed for bankruptcy. Trump negotiated and tried to salvage his ownership of the Taj Mahal. As a result, he gave up significant ownership to the banks!
The Casino Control Commission said that Trump was in noncompliance on $1.1 billion in loans across his empire: the Taj, Trump Shuttle Airline, the Castle, Trump Palm Beach Corp., and Mar-a-Lago. To stay afloat, he gave up the airline (and a yacht).
Hard times.
In another year, Trump filed bankruptcy for his other two casinos: Castle and Plaza. To resolve those debts, he gave up half of his stake to the lenders.
What does that mean? Lenders lost money, small-time investors who bought bonds lost money, small business owners who sold to the Trump organization lost money.
And let's not look past the loan his dad gave him at Castle. I'd call it unethical and unlawful in the way it was done. Yet, Trump nor his father were found of any wrongdoing.
I'll end with this. O'Harrow pointed out a telling piece of who Trump really is through Trump's use of junk bonds, which Trump said he originally wouldn't use:
"Making promises, changing the promises or turning your back on them, suffering the consequences and then later saying, that's my prerogative."
Or, as we all know, Trump can do what he wants. Why? Because he's Donald Trump the billionaire. Money talks, and even when money speaks hate, racism, sexism, ignorance... people listen.
<insert very sad and perplexed emoji here>
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