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Saturday, June 11, 2016

Trump is not Rich Enough to Self Fund

Mark Cuban was on Chris Hayes again last night and made the argument that Trump is not a billionaire, not even close.

Cuban argues he has just $165 million. He bases this on Trump's FEC filing.

http://www.msnbc.com/all-in/watch/mark-cuban-on-his-relationship-with-trump-703460419620

If this is so:

1. It's embarrassing as his father gave him $200 million-in 2016 dollars in 1974.

2. It means a pillar of his entire campaign is a con. That he is self funding. Ok, he was able to get through the primary, but he will be unable to fund a general election campaign.

Which is why he now needs the RNC donors. Yet, it's hard for him to ask for money-after all, they figure he's a billionaire, so why can't he fund himself?

It might also explain his habit of stiffing people that do work for him. The guy doesn't like to pay his bills:

"Donald Trump casts himself as a protector of workers and jobs, but a USA TODAY NETWORK investigation found hundreds of people – carpenters, dishwashers, painters, even his own lawyers – who say he didn’t pay them for their work."

"Donald Trump often portrays himself as a savior of the working class who will "protect your job." But a USA TODAY NETWORK analysis found he has been involved in more than 3,500 lawsuits over the past three decades — and a large number of those involve ordinary Americans, like the Friels, who say Trump or his companies have refused to pay them.

http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/elections/2016/06/09/donald-trump-unpaid-bills-republican-president-laswuits/85297274/

Many of these folks were hurt very badly financially. Some saw their family businesses destroyed. Sort of like Trump U.

"During the Atlantic City casino boom in the 1980s, Philadelphia cabinet-builder Edward Friel Jr. landed a $400,000 contract to build the bases for slot machines, registration desks, bars and other cabinets at Harrah's at Trump Plaza."

"The family cabinetry business, founded in the 1940s by Edward’s father, finished its work in 1984 and submitted its final bill to the general contractor for theTrump Organization, the resort’s builder."

Edward’s son, Paul, who was the firm’s accountant, still remembers the amount of that bill more than 30 years later: $83,600. The reason: the money never came. “That began the demise of the Edward J. Friel Company… which has been around since my grandfather,” he said.

How do you consider electing a man involved in 3500 lawsuits, who has been audited every year since the 1980s, who has destroyed the family businesses of regular Americans like the Friels'?

I wonder what stories we'd here from the victims of Trump U.

As Josh Marshall says:

"Trump's whole world likely collapses post-election as it emerges that mogul image is a fake. Not billionaire. Just chained series of grifts."

https://twitter.com/joshtpm/status/741004349409775616

His campaign has already destroyed his entire tv empire and really hurt his brand. Bookings in his hotels are down 60 percent since his campaign started.

As Marshall says, this election may well expose him so ruthlessly that his brand may simply be destroyed.

It may be that he will be reduced to a Sarah Palin like figure, a Fox News celebrity by the time this is done.

3 comments:

  1. I hope Mr. Trump stays in politics and in fact goes on to be the GOP nominee in 2020 and 2024 as well. =)

    ReplyDelete
  2. I'll drink to that-and I don't drink. LOL

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. ...then in 2028 he passes the torch to David Duke.

      Delete