The Opinion of this writer does not represent the opinion of the Ridgeview News
By Deirdre Purdy
My articles are published in our weekly county newspaper. Alocal critic has objected to only one word – “grifter.”
How can you call Trump a grifter, the gentleman asked, when he’s the only president ever to leave office worth less than he had when he came in?
His premise is not strictly true. Harry Truman entered the presidency as a poor man and left the White House with only his army pension of $1350 a year.
The question, though, is how can I call Donald Trump a “grifter?” Let me count the ways.
A grifter is a con man, a fraudster, a huckster, a snake oil salesman, and a swindler. He steals by tricking people into parting with their money for worthless goods or promises.
Grifters are so confident in what they are selling that listeners do not doubt their expertise and guidance. Grifters are not ashamed of lying and show no empathy for their victims. To a grifter, victims are losers, suckers, rubes and dupes. If the con is exposed, grifters double down.
Before he was a politician, Donald Trump was a playboy, a bankrupt businessman, and a character on reality TV. Doonesbury endlessly satirized Playboy Donald,
Trump’s ghost-written book, “The Art of the Deal,” createdTrump the powerful negotiator, a tycoon, an image that too many voters (marks) believe to this day.
Unlike what the book says, Trump managed to bankrupt three Atlantic City casinos in the early 1990s. He lied to regulators about the high interest rates he had to pay to buy the casinos, which ultimately led to a fourth bankruptcy.
In the end, stock and bondholders lost more than $1.5 billion, while Trump himself took away millions. At the same time, he was notorious for not paying local contractors and suppliers, many of whom went out of business
The businessman was on the ropes when “The Apprentice” turned Donald Trump, the disgraced huckster who trashed Atlantic City, into a titan of industry.
Falling ratings led next to “The Celebrity Apprentice,” a more circus-like show, where Trump played a philanthropist whilecontestants raised money for charities.
Trump put his name on the show’s donations to charities, but never personally paid a single donation from his own pocket.
You may say, well, that’s just business and that’s just reality TV. So, let’s get to the undeniable grifts, adjudicated by courts to befraud.
Trump formed The Donald Trump Foundation as a “charity”to distribute profits from “The Art of the Deal” to other charities. The Foundation took in $6 million that Trump said he was raising for vets. The Foundation distributed no funds to any veterans ever.
Instead, the Foundation spent its money settling Trump’s personal and business legal disputes and supporting Trump’s political campaign.
The Foundation was dissolved by the New York Attorney General after admitting fraud. The remaining money was divided among actual charities.
Trump University (not a real university) ran an alleged real estate training program. Two federal class action lawsuits accused TU of being a “massive scam” that defrauded its students. Trump settled for $25 million.
Stop the Steal Scam. Trump’s lies about fraud in the 2020 election are the basis for one of his larger scams. Trump raised over $250 million for Stop the Steal, “an election defense fund,” almost entirely from small donors. It’s actually a Trump campaign finance and ongoing email solicitation operation.
The Check-Box Scams. During the 2020 election, Trumpfundraising emails contained a small pre-checked box hidden in the fine print that made every donation a continuing donation. Later, the campaign added another pre-checked box that automatically doubled every donation. The campaign was forced to issue more than 530,000 refunds worth $64.3 million to donors complaining of fraud.
Fraudulent Value of the Trump Organization. Last week, the Supreme Court of New York found that Trump and his adult sons submitted “blatantly false financial data” to lenders “resulting in fraudulent financial statements.” At trial, defendants “simply denied reality.” (If the con is exposed, grifters double down.) “Their complete lack of contrition and remorse borders on the pathological,” the court said.
The total of Trump’s ill-gotten gains through the Trump Organization fraud were $355 million, which must be repaid with $100 million in pre-judgment interest.
Time to roll out a new product.
If you’ve read this far and Trump’s still your candidate, be sure to send $399 for a pair of cheap gold sneakers (available on Temu for $19.61), shipping in July (he hasn’t really ordered them yet), but hurry, because the Russians are pre-ordering at $5000 a pair (campaign contributions).
Under the rule of law, grifts tend to get found out and punished Being a dictator would be so much easier. Dictators require belief and dictatorship allows theft without end. Look at Putin, worth an estimated $200 billion, who controls the courts and canjail and murder his critics. Trump is a great admirer.
If, instead, you want an honest candidate who’s working for America and Americans, please vote for Joe Biden.
