"It's a very simple answer to that. I was a business man all my life. I've made a tremendous fortune. I had to deal with politicians and I would contribute to them and I would deal with them and certainly I'm not going to say bad things about people because I needed their support to get projects done. I needed their support for lots of things or I may have needed their support, put it another way.
"I mean, you're not going to say horrible things and then go in a year later and say listen, can I have your support for this project or this development or this business. So I say nice about almost everybody and I contributed to people because I was a smart business man. I've built a tremendous company. And I did that based on relationships.
"Now I'm no longer a business man. Now I'm somebody that wants to make our country great." (Transcript and video)
But even more importantly, Trump -- whose self-proclaimed passion in life has always been to become extraordinary rich, making huge amounts of money in the most visible ways -- admitted that he repeatedly lied about major political figures in order to advance his business interests. Even assuming this passion has been replaced by a passion to become President of the United States and "make our country great," why would he not now lie to the voters in order to reach his new goals?Karl could have asked this obvious follow-up question, but, again, did not.
I certainly hope that those with access to the airwaves will point out Trump's admitted propensity to lie in order to get what he wants.
I always feel funny criticizing a journalist's interviewing technique, but Jonathan Karl is a dupe, a dope and a worthy successor to David Gregory in failing to follow up with a killer question. It doesn't matter what the answer is, but you need to get the question on the record, at least. Chuck Todd and Chris Matthews tried so often to get Debbie Wasserman Schultz on the difference between a Democrat and a Socialist that she made their point for them.
ReplyDeleteBut back to the main issue, I just finished a treatise on the history of presidential power, and the political science professor who wrote it talked of the need for having a vision, the ability to use power, the ability to mobilize followers and the skill at bargaining. I have asked, but haven't heard back as yet, if that definition of a great president doesn't describe Trump.
As for lying, you cannot possibly exercise power of any kind, parental or political, without lying a little. To me, the difference is who you are lying to. To the public, no. To Putin, yes. To Republican leaders, absolutely!
As to the definition of effective exercise of presidential power, it does describe the elected leader of a certain European country (1933-45). And a certain elected leader in the U. S. during the same period. What is most important is the purpose to which such skills are applied. As for Trump, I am not sure that spleen and vision are the same thing.
DeleteRecently i started a small business. I want to grow my business. So today i was searching a great business blog. Now i visit your blog and read your all content attentively. You share very important business related content in your blog. Thank you so much. custom essay services
ReplyDelete