27
votes
The Donald Trump I saw on The Apprentice
Link information
This data is scraped automatically and may be incorrect.
- Title
- For 20 Years, I Couldn't Say What Donald Trump Did on the Set of The Apprentice. Now I Can.
- Authors
- Bill Pruitt
- Published
- May 30 2024
- Word count
- 5931 words
It is the willingness to cover up for him, and rich white men in general, that is the most upsetting and still least surprising.
What's fairly distressing to me is that despite the fact that he's a biggot and in general just an awful, awful human being, some folks are just willing to look the other way and support him because they perceive that he's aligned with their views. In fact, the only thing he cares about is himself and his image. He will clearly badmouth, betray, sue and/or destroy anyone who gets in his way. I think the author does a pretty good job of describing him in terms of being a con man.
It's even more than him being aligned with their views, the TV show had no real reason other than money to cover for him. And a sense of not wanting to stir up trouble. So it served some of their purposes and was easier to stay quiet for the others.
That, more than actually thinking he aligns with their views is the frustrating part.
True. Add to that the normalization of the behavior by him and all who surround him. Yikes! It's pretty screwed up and mind boggling to comprehend.
I think it's more of a spiteful "cut off my nose to spite my face". I think a lot of people have some version of that inclination, myself included. For me it's the eat the rich movement. I'd be happy to make everything a little worse for myself if it meant it was more equal across the board, and particularly if it made it worse for extremely wealthy folks who I see as the root cause for many of society's ills. In that case, I'm not just seeking improvement, I want things to be worse for a select group of people. It's not a feeling I'm particularly proud of, and I don't think it's the loudest voice in me - it lives amongst more compassionate voices - but it's decidedly there.
I think Trump supporters run on similar logic. My perception is that the folks that support Trump are aware that he is a terrible, bigoted human being. All the better to deliver damage and chaos to those you perceive as harming you. Even if you're harmed in the process. The hope is the other side will be harmed more or you perceive them as being less able or adaptable to those impacts than yourself. I don't agree with their conclusion but I understand the logic. It's highlighted in the video of the woman saying "he's hurting the wrong people"
I remember seeing part of one episode of the apprentice. Trump immediately came off to me as cartoonish and emotionally childish. The show itself was the same, seemed like a waste of time. And that's after post production.
When he was nominated the first time the hardest thing for me to understand was how his narcissism and inauthenticity weren't immediately obvious to anyone after hearing him speak for even a minute.
I'm still grappling with what that says about the baseline level of emotional intelligence and perceptivity in America. On one level I can explain it, we've all explored his appeal from every angle at this point. On another I just don't want to accept that people are that easy to bullshit. It would be easier to accept if he was at least smart. Or if there was any reason to believe that he stood for anything.
Yes.
He's not very interesting and there isn't much to say about him. He has no leadership qualities. He cannot speak well. He's rude and incurious. And he seems to have no morality at all.
I remember reading an article a few years ago. It was from a female reporter or writer. Sorry I don't remember her name or have a link to the article, but I think it was either on The Atlantic or Slate.
Anyway, they were both at some event and she tried to talk to him. He said to her "Why am I talking to you? I wouldn't even let you suck my dick". I'm quite sure that her account of this brief conversation is accurate. And it tells you most of what you need to know about his personality and what he thinks of everyone but himself.
So he's horrible and why should we spend a minute thinking about him?. What's interesting, and horrifying, is that he has supporters that enable his awfulness and incompetence.
Anyone who isn't a sociopath should be baffled and dismayed by this support.
Some people voted against H Clinton. She had been personally targeted by Limbaugh and others since the first Clinton presidency.
I have my own theories about how she could have run a more effective race, but regardless, she faced personal dislike in addition to mysogyny