http://interactive.nydailynews.com/2016/10/daily-news-editorial-bury-trump-in-landslide/BY NEW YORK DAILY NEWS
Thursday, October 20, 2016, 9:30 PM
When deliberating over a presidential endorsement, the Daily News Editorial Board strives to identify the person who offers the greatest promise to brighten the futures of Americans and to safeguard the national security.
Never have we questioned a candidate’s fitness to serve.
Then came Donald Trump — liar, thief, bully, hypocrite, sexual victimizer and unhinged, self-adoring demagogue.
The 16-month campaign since Trump vaingloriously entered the race has horrifyingly revealed that the Big Lie brazenly told — built on smaller falsehoods and spread by social media and a lust for TV ratings — can bring the United States to the brink of electing an aspiring strongman with no moral bearing or self-control.
But, now, with his defeat all but certain, Trump is conjuring for his followers demons that conspire to destroy them and the nation.
Chillingly, he refused in Wednesday night’s debate to commit to honoring the results of the November election. Doing so, he questioned the fundamental soundness of America’s democracy.
Trump’s reckless willingness to damage trust in the electoral process — in order to save face and hold leadership of the paranoid wing of U.S. politics — is the most pressing reason why voters must defeat him in a landslide.
To take full stock of Trump must be to understand the urgency of barring him from the White House, as well as to reckon with how an authoritarian fabulist has gotten so close to leading the globe’s beacon of democracy.
History will mark the presidential contest of 2016 for demagoguery that distorted America’s electoral process from a competition of ideas into, on the one hand, a reach for power based on a cultish thirst for vengeance, and, on the other, a bipartisan drive to save the American presidency itself.
Herewith, we fervently pray, is the political obituary of Donald Trump and all that he stands for.
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1. The Demagogue
Donald Trump launched his product in ostentatious spectacle on June 16, 2015, with a full-blown demonstration of demagoguery — defined by the Merriam-Webster Dictionary as the “use of popular prejudices and false claims and promises in order to gain power.”
Connecting with millions who had suffered the loss of jobs and homes in the Great Recession, as well as the loss of opportunities in the shrinkage of industries and the stagnation of wages in the country’s continuing struggle to recover, Trump roared that America had gone to hell and beyond.
A sampling from his opening remarks:
“Our country is in serious trouble. We don’t have victories anymore. We used to have victories, but we don’t have them.”
“The U.S. has become a dumping ground for everybody else’s problems.”
“Even our nuclear arsenal doesn’t work.”
“We got nothing but problems.”
And, finally: “Sadly, the American Dream is dead.”
Next, he railed at villainous enemies — foreigners and evil corporate titans — who were to blame.
Japan: “When did we beat Japan at anything? They send their cars over by the millions, and what do we do? When was the last time you saw a Chevrolet in Tokyo? It doesn’t exist, folks. They beat us all the time.”
Mexico: “They’re sending people that have lots of problems, and they’re bringing those problems with us. They’re bringing drugs. They’re bringing crime. They’re rapists. And some, I assume, are good people.”
China: “They are ripping us. We are rebuilding China. We’re rebuilding many countries. China, you go there now, roads, bridges, schools, you never saw anything like it.”
Next, America’s political leaders have betrayed all but the rich: “We have people that are morally corrupt. We have people that are selling this country down the drain.”
Finally, the superlative wonders of a President Trump would bend the world to his will in order to “Make America Great Again.”
He would not only build a wall along the entire Mexican border to prevent the hordes from stealing American jobs, he would force Mexico to pay for it.
If the Ford car company planned to move a plant to Mexico, Trump would force a begging CEO to reverse course.
“They have no choice. They have no choice,” Trump promised, his vows reaching a crescendo with the words: “I will be the greatest jobs President that God ever created. I tell you that.”
Rage at nightmares that only he and his audiences saw, fury at enemies that only he and his audiences were willing to name and faith that Trump was the savior played out in rally after rally.
“I’m going to make our country rich again,” he declared.
“We’re going to win so much. You’re going to get tired of winning. You’re going to say, ‘Please, Mr. President, I have a headache. Please, don’t win so much,’” he vowed.
Over time, Trump’s pledges grew ever more grandiose.
“I alone can fix it,” he said.
“I will give you everything,” he told supporters for whom the truth was either irrelevant or a conspiracy of lies.
2. TRUMP THE FRAUDSTER
At the start, among a big field of conventional Republicans, Trump postured as the outsider who had guts to slay Washington, his appeal supercharged by having played the part of brilliant billionaire businessman on the reality TV show “The Apprentice.”
But, as the campaign progressed, real-life Trump emerged as a one-time builder who had dined out for years on fixing a Central Park skating rink while amassing more failures than successes.
Often, he succeeded through unsavory business practices or in deals that left others holding the bag. (When doing business with Trump, be prepared for negotiations to start after he signs a contract.) Quite often, he failed spectacularly.
Trump traces his interest in real estate to his father, Fred, who found success building housing in Brooklyn and Queens. Fred’s paternal influence was extraordinarily powerful — and he seeded Donald’s ambitions with millions in critical early loans.
In the 1970s, Trump leaped brashly into Manhattan real estate, executing projects, such as Trump Tower, with the help of substantial property tax abatements and undocumented immigrant labor.
Today, 17 Manhattan towers bear Trump’s name, only a few of which he owns or built, because he has shifted from executing real estate developments to licensing his name for use on other people’s projects around the globe.
While he hit gold owning golf courses and starring on “The Apprentice,” Trump's roster of business bombs include Trump Shuttle, Trump Steaks, Trump Vodka, Trump Mortgage, Trump Magazine and a franchise in the defunct United States Football League.
In the 1980s, Trump dived into the casino business in Atlantic City, when gambling looked like a sure thing. Saddled with debt that exceeded regulatory standards, Trump’s casino companies tanked even when the good times rolled.
Eventually, he led his empire into four bankruptcies that devastated lenders and shareholders — while Trump made sure that he did very well.
“The money I took out of there was incredible,” he told The New York Times in May.
Refusing to pay bills became a standard business practice.
A Wall Street Journal review of court filings from jurisdictions in 33 states found numerous vendors, including a chandelier shop, a curtain maker and a lawyer, who said that Trump’s companies had reneged on paying for goods or services.
Similarly, USA Today found hundreds of vendors who said Trump had failed to pay them, including Philadelphia cabinet-maker Edward Friel, who contracted to build the bases for slot machines, registration desks, bars and furnishings at Harrah’s at Trump Plaza in Atlantic City.
Trump never paid the firm’s final $83,600.
“That began the demise of the Edward J. Friel Company,” said the business’ accountant.
Most notorious of all: Trump University.
Launched in 2005, the venture promised that Trump’s hand-picked instructors would teach students the master’s real estate investing secrets.
“At Trump University, we teach success,” Trump pledged in a promotional video. “It’s going to happen to you.”
In fact, many of Trump University’s supposed experts had little to no real estate experience, had never met Trump and failed to deliver the promised education.
Still more, the venture defied New York State orders to stop illegally using the word “university” in its name.
Thousands of enrollees are suing after paying from $20,000 to $60,000 for courses that proved worthless to them. In court, New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman has labeled Trump University a fraud.
Ronald Schnackenberg, a former Trump U. salesman, recalled his experience with one particular target, a couple including a man who was on disability:
“After the hard-sell sales presentation, they were considering purchasing the $35,000 Elite program. I did not feel it was an appropriate program for them because of their precarious financial condition.”
3. TRUMP THE HEAD CASE
Promising to be “more presidential than anybody other than the great Abe Lincoln,” Trump paired his billionaire outsider appeal with a swaggering demeanor that drew supporters like moths to a flame.
The more they came, the brighter he burned, and the more he craved the cheers of the crowd.
This jones for applause explains Trump’s boastfulness, his reflexive personalization of criticism, his instinct to attack opponents on a personal level, and his slavish devotion to polls — at least when they seem to affirm his power and glory.
During a November debate, when Ohio Gov. John Kasich questioned Trump’s record, Trump sneered:
“I built an unbelievable company worth billions and billions of dollars. I don’t have to hear from this guy.”
Remember, too, that Trump mocked Florida Sen. Marco Rubio as “Little Marco,” branded Texas Sen. Ted Cruz as “Lyin’ Ted,” and compared retired surgeon Ben Carson to “a child molester.” Hillary Clinton is, of course, “Crooked Hillary.”
Trump seethed after former Mayor Michael Bloomberg joined Democrats in critiquing him at that party’s convention.
“I wanted to hit a couple of those speakers so hard,” he proclaimed, adding of Bloomberg, “in particular a very little guy. I was going to hit this guy so hard his head would spin.”
Famously, Trump has relied on Twitter to unleash a steady stream of juvenile attacks. By The New York Times’ running account, Trump has insulted 274 people, places and things — usually multiple times.
Often, awake in the wee hours of the morning, he has obsessively attacked critics on the most personal terms, portraying the insomniac rantings of an unhealthy psyche as a sign of strength.
Unhappy with their coverage, Trump denied campaign access to The Washington Post, BuzzFeed, Politico and the Huffington Post. Infamously, he mocked the congenital physical disability of New York Times reporter Serge Kovaleski, who had questioned Trump’s characterization of an article Kovaleski had once written.
Even more notoriously, Trump ridiculed the parents of Muslim U.S. Army Capt. Humayun Khan — who was killed in Iraq — after they criticized his call for banning Muslim immigrants.
He lashed out at Navy veteran John McCain, revered for enduring, with high honor, five brutal years as a Vietnam War captive.
“He’s not a war hero,” Trump declared of McCain, before modifying his venom to say: “He’s a war hero ’cause he was captured. I like people that weren’t captured, OK?”
Trump’s need for unqualified approval — and the high he gets from a whooping throng — are so powerful that he has chased after cheers by musing about violence against peaceful protesters.
“I’d like to punch him in the face,” Trump said of one. About another, he said, “I’ll beat the crap out of you,” adding, “Part of the problem ... is nobody wants to hurt each other anymore.”
4. TRUMP THE FAKE PHILANTHROPIST
While living gaudily, Trump puffed out his chest as a man of great generosity. Not only was he a rich guy, and a tell-it-like-it-is-guy, and the most can-do guy around, he broadcast that deep down he had a heart of gold — when he was selling brass.
Over the years, Trump has announced that he would devote profits from several of his ventures — from Trump Vodka to Trump University — to good causes.
A month after the 9/11 terror attacks, while appearing on Howard Stern’s radio program, Trump pledged to donate $10,000 to the Twin Towers Fund.
Between 2010 and 2015 alone, he claimed to have given away more than $100 million.
“I give to hundreds of charities and people in need of help,” Trump told The Associated Press in a 2015 email.
Almost all of this is false.
At the request of The News, the city controller’s office reviewed donations to the Twin Towers Fund and found none from Trump through mid-2002.
His image as a beneficent billionaire went largely unchallenged until scrutiny during the presidential campaign, led by The Washington Post’s David Fahrenthold, exposed maneuverings that crossed even into self-enrichment.
While Trump’s refusal to release his tax returns bars a full accounting of his giving, disclosures during the campaign point to the Donald J. Trump Foundation as the main source for his charity.
Trump established the foundation in 1988, ostensibly as the vehicle for making good on a promise to give away proceeds from “The Art of the Deal,” his 1987 business best-seller, Eventually, he extended the pledge to other ventures, including “The Apprentice.”
Official filings show that Trump donated a grand total of $5.4 million cash to the foundation — millions less than those ventures are known to have netted him and millions less than his public charitable pledges.
Since 2009, Trump has not given a cent to the foundation. From that point, it became a funnel for tax-deductible contributions from other charities as well as from business associates, some of whom appear to have given the foundation money that they owed Trump himself for expenses like rent and TV appearances.
At the same time, Trump has exploited the foundation for self-dealing.
In 2014, he drew on it to pay $10,000 for a painted portrait of you-know-who at a charity auction at Mar-a-Lago, his Florida resort and residence.
The foundation also spent $20,000 for Melania Trump to purchase a 6-foot Donald portrait; $12,000 to buy a Tim Tebow helmet at a charity auction; and $258,000 to settle legal disputes and unpaid fines involving Trump’s businesses.
In 2013, the Trump Foundation contributed $25,000 to an organization supporting Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi, after Bondi announced she was considering whether to join New York Attorney General Schneiderman’s investigation of fraud at Trump University.
It would be charitable to call Donald Trump a philanthropist.
5. TRUMP THE LIAR
In early polls, the supposed get-it-done outsider cornered the vote of those who crave a no-holds-barred truth-teller, political correctness be damned.
Since then, the Republican Party standard-bearer has proven to be the most extraordinary, if not pathological, liar ever to seek the presidency.
Small, large and in-between, Trump’s standard-issue falsehoods are deliberate and purposeful. He spouts them with bravado even after his facts have been proven wrong. And he has done so for decades.
Writing in Politico this year, former New York Post Page Six editor Susan Mulcahy recalled covering the up-and-coming real estate mogul in the 1980s.
“Trump had a different way of doing things. He wanted attention, but he could not control his pathological lying,” Mulcahy wrote.
“He lied about everything, with gusto,” she added.
In a sworn deposition given in the bankruptcy case for Trump Plaza in 1993, Trump’s own lawyer, Patrick McGahn, testified that attorneys always visited the client in pairs. Why?
“We tried to do it with Donald always if we could, because Donald says certain things and then has a lack of memory.”
McGahn added: “He’s an expert at interpreting things. Let’s put it that way.”
The former journalist who actually wrote Trump’s pride-and- joy biography, “The Art of the Deal,” has an even more damning assessment of the would-be President. Asked what he would title the book today, Tony Schwartz told The New Yorker magazine: “The Sociopath.”
During the campaign, Pulitzer Prize-winning PolitiFact has rated fully 71% of Trump’s statements as mostly false, false, or pants-on-fire false. The Washington Post Fact Checker has given 65% of the Trump statements it reviewed four Pinocchios, its worst rating for truthfulness.
A few of the most egregious among too many to catalog:
He says he was against the war in Iraq before it began. False.
Trump regularly claims that the U.S. is home to as many as 30 million undocumented immigrants. The well-researched estimate is in the ballpark of 11 million.
He insists that the U.S. is the “highest-taxed nation in the world.” In fact, U.S. taxes are in the middle of the pack.
He has described social interactions with Russian President Vladimir Putin, saying that he had spoken “indirectly and directly” with Putin and “got to know him very well,” and that “Putin even sent me a present.”
But in July, Trump said on ABC, “I have no relationship with Putin. I don’t think I’ve ever met him.”
Never was Trump, the steadfast liar, on more vivid display than when he claimed to have seen thousands of Muslims celebrating the toppling of the World Trade Center on 9/11.
No one has ever found the television footage.
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