For “blue-collar billionaire” Donald Trump, money’s an asset
A handful of vacation homes. A car elevator for his four-car garage. A wife whose hobbies included show horses. When Mitt Romney ran for president four years ago, his estimated $250 million fortune was quickly turned into a liability by Democrats, who painted the former Bain Capital chief as out of touch with Americans still struggling to recover from the Great Recession. Four years later, Donald Trump‘s much-bigger pile of money is a central character of his campaign. And far from seeing it as a liability, the candidate flaunts it. “I’m the most successful person ever to run for president,” the billionaire businessman has bragged, noting that he’s “really rich.” On the stump, he vows to “make our country rich again.” Trump will officially become his party’s nominee at this week’s Republican convention, powered by white, working-class voters drawn to his populist message. The billionaire lives an opulent life on Manhattan’s Fifth Avenue, worlds away from the day-to-day reality of most supporters. Yet many nonetheless believe he understands their problems in ways other politicians do not. Some dub him the “blue-collar billionaire.” “You might say because he lives in the ivory tower he doesn’t see what people are doing down below. He honestly does,” said Claude Thompson, 59, a Trump supporter who lives in Fresno, Calif. Thompson, who runs a property maintenance business, cited Trump’s employment of people through his companies as proof of his working class connections. “He knows that these people are blue-collar people, they’re middle income. … So he understands America,” he said. The difference between the perception of Trump’s and Romney’s money, Trump supporters say, comes down to attitude. While some felt that Romney tried to downplay his wealth, Trump has embraced it — even mocking, at times, Romney’s smaller net worth. The candidate jets around the country on his private plane, adorned with plush leather seats and gold-plated seatbelts. He sometimes holds rallies in open airplane hangars, landing triumphantly in front of screaming crowds. His campaign has doubled as a tour of his gilded properties, from Trump Tower in midtown Manhattan to the Mar-a-Lago club in Palm Beach. “Trump’s like, screw it, you know? I’m rich, I don’t care,” said Aspen Trevino of Carrollton, Texas. “He flaunts it. He makes it known.” Trevino, 25, said he views Trump as someone to look up to. “He makes it the America Dream, so people will say, ‘I can do that.’ I want to follow a president that I can look up to.” As the campaign moves toward the general election, Democrats have begun to paint Trump as an out-of-touch billionaire who has trampled the little guy to build his fortune. Among Democrats’ evidence: contractors and vendors who suffered during company bankruptcies when Trump emerged just fine. Whether that reputation will stick remains to be seen. But there’s no question that Trump’s regular Joe habits — including his penchant for fast food — have helped him connect. His campaign has actively worked to cultivate the image, tweeting out photos of him digging into a Big Mac on his plane and publicizing his campaign stays at Holiday Inn Express hotels. Evangelical leader Jerry Falwell Jr. has recalled expecting a stuffy ride with “champagne and caviar” ahead of his first ride on Trump’s plane. Instead, Trump treated the group to Wendy’s cheeseburgers and fries. Conservative radio host Howie Carr, another Trump backer, shared a similar story: Trump, he said, ordered lunch for the crew: “McDonald’s all the way. … He travels in an easy chair in front of a large TV screen turned to Fox.” “He’s one of us,” said Diane Priolo, 65, a social worker who lives in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. “I don’t care if he’s in a plane with 24 karat gold. He talks like us. He gets us. He’s a guy from Queens who’s not too big for his britches.” Indeed, Trump’s supporters often credit his upbringing in Queens despite the fact that he was raised in a mansion by a millionaire real estate developer father who helped him get started with a $1 million loan. Trump himself credits the summers he spent working on his father’s construction sites for his ability to connect with blue-collar voters. “I know them better than anybody will ever know them,” he said during a recent phone interview. “I grew up on construction sites. … I got to know the construction workers, the sheet rockers and the plumbers and the electrician and all of ’em. I worked with them. They were friends of mine.” “And frankly,” Trump added, “I like them better than the rich people.” Republished with permission of the Associated Press.
Former rivals, military leaders, actors to take stage at RNC
Former presidential candidates Ted Cruz, Chris Christie, Scott Walker and Marco Rubio — the latter by video link — are among those set to speak at the Republican National Convention in Cleveland. Military leaders, members of Congress, actors, faith leaders and family members of presumptive presidential nominee Donald Trump are also set to speak in what the Republican National Committee calls “an unconventional lineup” that will challenge the status quo and press for Trump’s agenda. Speaker highlights at the four-day convention, which begins Monday at the Quicken Loans Arena. MONDAY Theme: Make America Safe Again Headliners: Trump’s wife, Melania; Lt. Gen. (ret.) Michael Flynn, U.S. Army; Sen. Joni Ernst, R-Iowa; and Rep. Ryan Zinke, R-Mont. Others: Willie Robertson, star of “Duck Dynasty”; former Texas Gov. Rick Perry; Marcus Luttrell, retired U.S. Navy SEAL; Scott Baio, actor; Pat Smith, mother of Sean Smith, killed in the 2012 attacks in Benghazi, Libya; Mark “Oz” Geist, member of a security team that fought in Benghazi; John Tiegen, member of Benghazi security team and co-author of the book “13 Hours,” an account of the attacks; Kent Terry and Kelly Terry-Willis, siblings of Brian Terry, a Border Patrol agent whose shooting death revealed the botched “Fast and Furious” gun-smuggling operation; Antonio Sabato Jr., actor; Mary Ann Mendoza, Sabine Durden and Jamiel Shaw, immigration reform advocates; Rep. Michael McCaul, R-Texas; David Clarke, sheriff of Milwaukee County, Wis.; Rep. Sean Duffy, R-Wis.; Rachel Campos-Duffy, LIBRE Initiative for Hispanic economic empowerment; Darryl Glenn, Senate candidate in Colorado; Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Ark.; Karen Vaughn, mother of a U.S. Navy SEAL killed in Afghanistan; Sen. Jeff Sessions, R-Ala.; former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani; and Jason Beardsley of Concerned Veterans for America. ___ TUESDAY Theme: Make America Work Again Headliners: Tiffany Trump, candidate’s daughter; Kerry Woolard, general manager, Trump Winery in Virginia; Donald Trump Jr.; Sen. Shelley Moore Capito, R-W.Va.; former GOP presidential candidate Ben Carson; and actress Kimberlin Brown. Others: Sharon Day, co-chairwoman of Republican National Committee; Dana White, president, Ultimate Fighting Championship; Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson; Arkansas Attorney General Leslie Rutledge; former U.S. Attorney General Michael Mukasey; Andy Wist, founder of Standard Waterproofing Co.; Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wis.; Chris Cox, executive director, NRA Institute for Legislative Action; golfer Natalie Gulbis; Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky.; House Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wis.; House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif.; New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie. ___ WEDNESDAY Theme: Make America First Again Headliners: Former presidential candidates Ted Cruz and Marco Rubio; Eric Trump, son of the candidate; former House Speaker Newt Gingrich; and Indiana Gov. Mike Pence, Trump’s pick to be vice president. Others: radio host Laura Ingraham; Phil Ruffin, businessman with interests in real estate, lodging, manufacturing and energy; Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi; retired astronaut Eileen Collins; Michelle Van Etten, small business owner; Kentucky state Sen. Ralph Alvarado Jr.; Darrell Scott, senior pastor and co-founder of New Spirit Revival Center Ministries, Cleveland; Harold Hamm, oil executive; Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker; Lynne Patton, vice president, Eric Trump Foundation; Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla. (by video); Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas; Callista Gingrich, wife of Newt Gingrich. ___ THURSDAY Theme: Make America One Again Headliners: Peter Thiel, co-founder PayPal; Tom Barrack, CEO of Colony Capital; Ivanka Trump, daughter of the candidate; and Donald Trump, GOP nominee for president. Others: Brock Mealer, motivational speaker; Rep. Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn.; Oklahoma Gov. Mary Fallin; Dr. Lisa Shin, owner of Los Alamos Family Eyecare in New Mexico; RNC Chairman Reince Priebus; Jerry Falwell Jr., president of Liberty University and evangelical leader. Republished with permission of the Associated Press.
Jeb Bush: Stronger ‘Christian voice’ needed in world
Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush on Saturday condemned the Obama administration’s use of “coercive federal power” to limit religious freedom as he courted Christian conservatives at a Liberty University commencement ahead of a likely presidential run. Charging that “the Christian voice” isn’t heard enough in the world, the Republican White House prospect lashed out at the Democratic president’s administration for “demanding obedience in complete disregard of religious conscience.” “The present administration is supporting the use of coercive federal power. What should be easy calls in favor of religious freedom have instead become an aggressive stance against it,” Bush told an estimated 34,000 gathered for a graduation ceremony. “Somebody here is being small-minded and intolerant, and it sure isn’t the nuns, ministers, and laymen and women who ask only to live and practice their faith,” he said. Bush was speaking inside a packed football stadium at Liberty University, an institution founded by the late conservative culture warrior, Rev. Jerry Falwell. Bush, a converted Catholic, is preparing to enter a Republican primary contest that includes Republican competitors considered far more popular with the GOP’s religious right. Texas Sen. Ted Cruz formally announced his presidential campaign at Liberty University last month. Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, a Baptist pastor, Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal and former Texas Gov. Rick Perry have all made their Christian faith a centerpiece of prospective campaigns. All have aggressively condemned Obama’s health care overhaul which requires some religion-affiliated organizations to provide health insurance for employees that includes birth control. The measure is among several examples of what Republicans charge is Obama’s attack on religious liberty. “How strange, in our own time, to hear Christianity spoken of as some sort of backward and oppressive force,” Bush said. “Your generation is bringing the Christian voice to where it always is needed, and sometimes isn’t heard enough.” Despite nagging questions about Bush’s conservative credentials, Liberty University president Jerry Falwell Jr. noted that Bush was considered a hero among social conservatives as Florida governor. He fought to keep Michael Schiavo from removing the feeding tube from his brain-damaged wife, Terri. Leaders in the anti-abortion movement still praise Bush today. And in a reminder that his path to the presidency depends upon moderate and independents perhaps as much as conservatives, Bush concluded his remarks with a message for non-Christians. “In my experience, at least, you generally find the same good instincts, fair-mindedness, and easygoing spirit among Americans of every type – including, of course, the many who belong to no church at all,” he said. Democrats were paying close attention to Bush’s remarks. “Jeb Bush will not win over any Virginia voters with his close-minded pandering to the right wing,” said Morgan Finkelstein, spokesman for the Democratic Party of Virginia. “By supporting the Indiana discrimination law and attacking women’s reproductive rights, Bush places himself firmly at odds with Virginia values.” Republished with permission of the Associated Press.
