I know the Trumps and their cronies are all a bunch of asshole con artists. I know they get off on saying egregious things for the lulz, as long as they can still turn a profit. I know that they have mastered the art of playing the victim card in order to turn said profits, deliberately framing the world in a hyper-partisan "Us-vs-the-Other" way that is nauseating and divisive and god dammit, still actually working for them.
But even in that context, this excerpt from Donald Trump Jr's new book "Triggered: How the Left Thrives on Hate and Wants to Silence Us," is particularly maddening. As reported by Business Insider:
Writing about a visit to Arlington National Cemetery the day before his father's inauguration, Trump said: "I rarely get emotional, if ever. I guess you'd call me hyper-rational, stoic. Yet as we drove past the rows of white grave markers, in the gravity of the moment, I had a deep sense of the importance of the presidency and a love of our country … In that moment, I also thought of all the attacks we'd already suffered as a family, and about all the sacrifices we'd have to make to help my father succeed — voluntarily giving up a huge chunk of our business and all international deals to avoid the appearance that we were 'profiting off of the office.'"
He goes on to say: "Frankly, it was a big sacrifice, costing us millions and millions of dollars annually … Of course, we didn't get any credit whatsoever from the mainstream media, which now does not surprise me at all."
I know that a large swath of Trump's base gets off on pandering military hero worship. But that is, frankly, a revolting comparison for Junior to make—especially when you consider that the Trump family didn't actually sacrifice any income or international business deals. So he's comparing his monetary sacrifice to dying in armed combat and didn't even lose any money.
Also: can we just acknowledge how fucked up it is that the President of the United States' son published a book with a title that says, "The majority of the people in the country that my father runs are objectively evil?" And yet I'm sure my dad's dumb golf buddies will still get off on their meaningless platitudes of "Well we just need to come together as a country!" and then still vote for Trump again.
Donald Trump Jr.'s new book is a lengthy rant about how his family has been victimized by Trump's presidency [John Haltiwanger/Business Insider]
Image via Gage Skidmore/Flickr and Wikimedia Commons
