The life and the character of Donald Trump
First off - yes, I am a liberal, but I am not the caricature of liberals that conservative media wants you to believe in and be afraid of.
I was born and raised in a small town in the south. My first job was working in tobacco fields as a high school summer job.
I am a gun owner (who wants gun control). I have worked and been friends with many different kinds of people in my life, and I don't hate conservatives.
But I do have a serious problem with people who don't want to be honest about their intentions.
I have a problem with people who lie, cheat, and steal, and who take advantage of good people who don't have the means to defend themselves.
If you find it hard to believe that Trump is capable of what he's been accused of, I want to start out with a little background on Donald Trump's life: these things have nothing to do with politics; they are a matter of character.
And background for his actions as President.
Some want you to believe that we're in a culture war, and that we no longer share values.
I disagree - I think there are a lot of core values that we can all agree on.
This isn't about "smearing" Donald Trump or digging up dirt; this is a glimpse into the kind of person he is
Donald Trump was born with a silver spoon.
As a toddler, he received $200,000 payments from his father, in a scheme to avoid taxes.
Over his life, his father has given him more than $400 million.
marketwatch.com/story/trumps-f…
Money from his father doesn't make him a bad person, of course.
But remember, a large part of Trump's identity is that he started with one million and became a self-made billionaire.
He has lied about a fundamental part of who he is - and maintained that lie for decades.
This "little white lie" became the foundation for many more lies through his life, which ultimately paint a picture of a man who is a fraud. And I don't use the word fraud lightly.
Trump is the child of a slumlord who then went on to run pyramid schemes, fake schools, fake charities, sell cheap Chinese-made goods, and to do everything - legal and otherwise - to promote a false image of himself and his family, and then try to capitalize on that name.
Despite being perfectly healthy in high school and college, Trump avoided the draft five times through deferments:
nytimes.com/2016/08/02/us/…
In the early 70s, the Trump family business was the subject of one of the largest housing discrimination cases of its time, which they eventually settled:
thehill.com/homenews/news/…
Throughout his life, Trump has intentionally been dishonest about his worth; sometimes to avoid taxes, and other times to receive loans that he wouldn't have been able to receive otherwise:
washingtonpost.com/graphics/2019/…
thedailybeast.com/trump-inflated…
Trump also has a habit of lying about being charitable. In 1996, he went to a public charity event for kids with AIDS, pretending to be one of the top donors to the charity. He sat in the chair of a real donor, and danced. But he never donated a dime:
complex.com/life/2016/10/t…
Trump's words and actions on 9/11 also reveal the character of a deeply dishonest man, who will use a national tragedy as an opportunity to promote himself:
Trump showed up late to Michael Cohen's son's bar mitzvah — then humiliated him in front of all the guests:
businessinsider.com/trump-ridicule…
Donald Trump routinely stiffs and fails to pay the people, contractors, and small businesses who do work for him:
usatoday.com/story/news/pol…
Trump liked the coat of arms that belonged to Mar-a-Lago's previous owners so much, that he replaced the word "Integrity" with "Trump" and now claims it is his family crest. (The UK did not allow him to use it there because it wasn't legitimate):
telegraph.co.uk/news/2017/05/3…
And we all remember when Donald Trump heartlessly mocked a disabled reporter on live television at one of his rallies:
Even all of these things still don't quite get to the true character of Donald Trump.
For a little more insight, we can take a look at his business dealings, where he has committed fraud, and been involved with criminals and Russian mafia members...
Over the years, Trump’s companies have deleted thousands of communications, emails, and other kinds of records, often in defiance of court orders:
newsweek.com/2016/11/11/don…
Donald Trump made millions from a pyramid scheme that took advantage of its recruits:
wsj.com/articles/trump…
Trump has a history of forcing people into arbitration instead of allowing lawsuits to continue in public courts:
buzzfeednews.com/article/zoetil…
Trump was fined $10 million for willful and repeated anti-money laundering violations:
fincen.gov/news/news-rele…
Trump was found to be running a fraudulent school (Trump University). He settled the case for $25 million:
abcnews.go.com/US/judge-final…
Trump got a $17 million insurance payout in 2005 for hurricane damage to Mar-a-Lago - but there’s no evidence that much damage occurred:
apnews.com/f4df8c9beb1740…
Trump may have committed tax fraud by fabricating a loan to avoid taxes on $50 million in income:
businessinsider.com/trump-may-have…
The Trump family was found to be running a fraudulent charity (The Trump Foundation). They had to repay $2.8 million in restitution to victims, and the Trump family is banned from running any charity in NY for at least 10 years:
apnews.com/b1d8d5688ec04c…
When a helicopter crash killed three people in 1998, Trump inserted himself into the story by claiming that he was almost on it with them:
thehill.com/homenews/admin…
We can also take a look at the huge number of convicted criminals and mafia associates who have or had condos in Trump Tower:
For a bit more background and info, give this a read: Donald Trump's Tower of Trouble:
villagevoice.com/2019/05/09/don…
There are similar stories about Trump Tower in Toronto:
ft.com/trumptoronto
thestar.com/news/world/201…
alternet.org/heres-how-shad…
huffingtonpost.ca/2018/07/13/tor…
In fact, it seems that wherever there is a cluster of organized crime, you can find a Trump Tower - there is even one in Azerbaijan. It casts a whole different light on his project to build a Trump hotel in Moscow - amongst the Russian oligarchs - does it not?
Molly Bloom, the poker madame, ran games out of Trump’s building and even she talked in her book about how good the Russian money was: americascardroom.eu/poker-blog/201…
And this list could not be complete without including Craig Unger's piece: Trump's Russian Laundromat:
newrepublic.com/article/143586…
So, this is just a small glimpse into the life and the character of Donald J. Trump.
If you read all of this and say "Well, that's bad, but it isn't grounds for impeachment!" remember - this was only setting the stage. This is his character; the case for impeachment is next.