Doughy Republican frontrunner Donald Trump has run an unconventional campaign to say the least. From making fun of disabled reporters, to insulting John McCain’s war heroism, to bashing the pope, to warning of riots if he doesn’t get the nomination, Trump has broken almost every rule in the book and has somehow emerged stronger than ever among Republican voters.
The New York Times recently wrote a major profile of Donald Trump’s butler and it contains some fascinating tidbits that I think go a long way in explaining his presidential campaign.
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First, we learn how Trump reacts when getting called out for saying something that isn’t true:
In the early years, Mr. Trump’s daughter Ivanka slept in the same children’s suite that Dina Merrill, an actress and a daughter of Mrs. Post, occupied in the 1930s. Mr. Trump liked to tell guests that the nursery rhyme-themed tiles in the room were made by a young Walt Disney.
“You don’t like that, do you?” Mr. Trump would say when he caught Mr. Senecal rolling his eyes. The house historian would protest that it was not true.
“Who cares?” Mr. Trump would respond with a laugh.
That’s pretty much how Trump has reacted every time some poor soul has tried to fact check him, such as when Chuck Todd this past weekend pointed out that the man who rushed the stage at a Trump rally had no actual ties to ISIS. In fact, as Todd points out, the claim that the man was affiliated with ISIS was part of an Internet hoax.
Trump’s reponse: “All I know is what’s on the Internet.”
Second, we learn that it’s a good idea to lie to Trump and tell him he’s doing better than he really is. For example, his butler admits to massaging Trump’s ego on the golf course:
Mr. Trump is abundantly proud of his ability to drive a golf ball, once asking rhetorically during a news conference: “Do I hit it long? Is Trump strong?”
Mr. Senecal suggested that Mr. Trump was perhaps not quite as strong as he imagined, remembering times they would hit balls together from the Mar-a-Lago property into the Intracoastal Waterway.
“Tony, how far is that?” Mr. Trump would ask.
“It’s like 275 yards,” Mr. Senecal would respond, though he said the actual distance was 225 yards.
This is the sort of thing that should disturb anyone who really believes Trump will only hire the best and smartest people because in reality he likes to surround himself with people who tell him what he wants to hear, regardless of whether it’s true.
At any rate, the entire profile is worth a read and can be found at this link.
