I realize that in a prior presidential election, a candidate from one of the country’s oldest-money families used his consumption of pork rinds as a testimony to his “American Everyman” status, and that we don’t need further proof that discussion of class in the United States has become so utterly debased as to be insensible. Apparently, social class no longer involves wealth and power, but snack foods.
And that annoys me. It super annoys me when people apply the logic to the Trump candidacy.
Whether you like or dislike the guy, whether you think his ideas are important or not, Donald Trump is not an everyman. Viz:
1. He grew up in wealth and inherited a lot. His father was a very successful immigrant, and we are all glad for him, but there is nothing relative about the measure of wealth he inherited. Yes, compared to a starving kid in one of the world’s hellholes, I grew up rich. But Mr. Trump grew up wealthy by just about any measurement ruler you use.
2. He attended an expensive private university (Fordham) and then Wharton. Wharton is either the most or one of the most elite business schools in on the planet earth and enjoyed this status even back in the 1960s, when Trump attended.
If you think your kid is going there, you must have some connections and wealth, too, because statistically, that’s the likelihood.
3. He marries supermodels. Everybody does that.
4. He names buildings after himself. Do you do that? INCLUDING A BUILDING CALLED THE TRUMP TAJ MAHAL. Ok?
5 He has owned a sports team. Granted, not an important one, but when was the last time your neighbor did that?
6. He has a star on the Hollywood walk of fame. You?
Sarah Palin had a credible claim as a grassroots, non-elite candidate, before she went all-out media persona, with her little college degree from a Idaho U and whatnot.
But let’s call the guy what he is: an elite with a marketable persona.