We still aren't convinced that professional comb-over artiste Donald Trump is really running for president—plain and simple, as much money as he allegedly has (or "feels" he has), Trump would lose a fortune with his less-than-stellar odds, which would be a very unTrump-like bet to make. But that doesn't mean that some people aren't sure that he is: after a phone call from The Donald, conservative columnist Charles Krauthammer thinks he really is running. Check the video excerpt below:
Trump reached out to Krauthammer, who has been criticizing him in his columns lately. Krauthammer told FoxNews that he was prepared for "a gale of abuse," but instead found Trump gracious and courteous: "He wanted to make me see, in his view, he was a serious candidate and a serious man. He handled that rather well. I give him the credit for graciousness and restraint. But it convinced me that he's running, that it's not just a feint." Not that it swayed him to his side, or changed his views "on the unseriousness of his candidacy. But as a person, I thought more highly of him... because of the gracious way and the calm and courteous way he discussed the issues."
Krauthammer isn't the only enemy who Trump has somewhat-seduced with his oily charm: civic activist Patricia Friedman, who for years has fought Trump's controversial plan for a glitzy Jones Beach catering hall, said she wholeheartedly supports his candidacy. "I'm looking at this from the man's abilities financially as well as otherwise...What future do we have if we don't get this spending under control? The way we're going, we're going to be owned by China," she told Newsday. Trump better keep courting Republicans one at a time, because CNN thinks he has "already burned his bridges with most independent voters by choosing to go full 'birther.'"
But even with the full support of birthers and halfhearted support of some Republicans, can Trump overcome his own shady business record in the eyes of voters? WNYC has a long, thorough piece today on Trump's branding, and the way he has created a business using that brand, lending his name to buildings and projects which he has no direct ownership, oversight or relationship too: "So, Trump is unquestionably a salesman. With a mix of ceaseless quotability and dogged defensiveness, he’s worked for years to contain damage from soiling the Trump name. When deals have gone bad, he points to uncontrollable economic forces or management that was out of his hands."
Eliot Spitzer and legal analyst Jeffrey Toobin also dived into Trump's financial and business history last night on CNN, and found that Trump has definitely overstated his own worth. Spitzer put the dichotomy between his braggadocio and his credibility like this:
Donald Trump's career has been one of brilliant marketing. Marketing in his case that has a great deal of bravado built into it. His entire life story is one of ‘I am bigger than everybody else. I am better than everybody else.’ And of course, half of that the public understands and I think appreciates is sort of - if not smoke and mirrors, a story of exaggeration.
On the other hand, it's unfair of him to then turn around and say, look, everybody does this, which isn't simply the case, certainly when it comes to financials and it also is not the case despite the public perception when it comes to politics,” he said. “The sort of aggrandizement - self-aggrandizement he's participating here is not accepted and the media won't let him get away with it.
Right now, no matter what anyone suggests or posits or quotes, nobody but Trump knows whether Trump is for real about going through with a presidential campaign that will definitely lose. However, we have received a leaked copy of Trump's campaigning strategy. But be warned: it may make the hairs on your head stand straight up.
