What might we call this latest campaign strategy on the part of Donald Trump’s bid to reclaim the White House? Grip and sin?
For it seems the newly minted felon has alighted on the notion that the best way to return to power is becoming a sort of low-rent Keyser Soze of the Electoral College. You might recall Kevin Spacey’s arch criminal mastermind in “The Usual Suspects” was so venal, so malevolent, so sociopathic that the mere mention of his name reduced people to quivering, catatonic, paralyzed-with-fear piles of goo.
And now Trump would seem to be channeling his inner Blofeld, by suggesting not too discreetly: Vote for me or die.
Not exactly Ronald Reagan’s “It’s morning again in America.”
There was a time when it was not all that uncommon for prominent political figures to occasionally suffer the embarrassment of having a photo of them standing next to a convicted murderer, drug dealer or some other assorted brigand for a classic fundraising “grip and grin” moment. Well, stuff happens. Usually the chastened candidate expresses chagrin, explains not every contributor can be vetted and promises to return the donation.
In 2008, then-Republican vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin went on the attack against Barack Obama, accusing him of “palling around with terrorists.” At issue was Obama’s relationship with Bill Ayers, a former 1960s radical and one of the founders of the violent Weather Underground.
Ayers had rehabilitated his reputation, become a professor at the University of Illinois Chicago and was active in the city’s social justice life. He was a Southside Chicago neighbor of Obama, whose children attended the same school as the young, rising politician.
Yes, they knew each other. And yes, Ayers had a past.
Trump’s current fa*ginesque rogues gallery of supporters has a present.
It’s been said one can be judged by the company one keeps. Days ago, New York Times reporters Maggie Haberman and Jonah E. Bromwich took note of some of the dubious characters sliming around the Trump campaign. It would seem the price of entry into Trump orbit requires an ankle monitoring bracelet. Lincoln had his team of rivals. Trump has his team of rap sheets.
While his hush money trial was unfolding in New York, where Trump was claiming he paid $130,000 to a p*rn star not to have sex with him, the candidate attended a rally in the Bronx, where the opening entertainment was provided by rappers Michael Williams, known as Sheff G, and Tegan Chambers, who performs as Sleepy Hallow. We can leave an assessment of their music to the critics, but they face charges related to a wide-ranging gang case. They are out on bail.
A quick question. Can you imagine Reagan sharing a campaign stage with Pablo Escobar?
Times have changed. In 1964, New York Republican Gov. Nelson Rockefeller was considered by many people unfit for the presidency because he was divorced. But in Trump’s parallel universe of fabulism, the cabal of seditious traitors whose attempted Jan. 6 coup led to more than 140 law enforcement officers being assaulted are called “patriots” and are promised a pardon if the thug-in-chief gets elected. Trump has dined with a white supremacist at Mar-a-Lago and has populated his inner circle of mug shots with a probation officer’s dream team, including Paul Manafort, Michael Flynn, Bernard Kerik and Hells Angels leader Chuck Zito.
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Explore all your optionsIn a classic Eddie Haskell suck-up moment from hell, Trump even promised the Libertarian Party Convention he would commute the life sentence of Libertarian darling Ross Ulbricht, a convicted international drug trafficker.
Oh, and let’s not forget Mr. Sheff G and Mr. Sleepy Hallow for your dining and dancing pleasure.
Does this at all qualify for palling around with Cell Block C?
Indeed, when former Maryland Republican governor and current U.S. Senate candidate Larry Hogan committed the ultimate heresy by urging voters to “respect the verdict” convicting Trump on 34 felonies, Trump lackeys announced Hogan’s political career was all but over. And yet Trump insists he is a “law and order” candidate. Perhaps, if you’re running for the presidency of SPECTRE.
Do you have the feeling that if the American people have a complete brain infarction come this November every future Trump cabinet meeting will begin with, “You have the right to remain silent”?
Welcome to Trump’s world — Making America Gonzo Again!
