The meek reality behind Trump’s pose as a Bull Moose Populist

Archive You're reading an older Hightower Lowdown article. Jim's still writing — twice a week on Substack.
Jim Hightower's Radio Lowdown
Jim Hightower's Radio Lowdown
The meek reality behind Trump's pose as a Bull Moose Populist
Loading
/

It’s been pointed out that Donnie Trump has unusually small hands… but who cares?

What’s truly alarming are his unusually small policy ideas. Draining the swamp, for example. He bragged that he’d be stronger than Drano, promising he’d rid Washington of its infestation with lobbyists, corporate favor-seekers, and other swamp critters. But he betrayed that populist pledge from the very start, staffing his entire presidency with CEOs, lobbyists, and Republican megadonors who’re gleefully rigging the system for themselves against the rest of us.

Enjoying Hightower's work? Join us over at our new home on Substack:

Also, remember how candidate Trump blistered the behinds of Wall Street’s billionaire hedge-fund hucksters for getting rich by destroying middle-class jobs? He promised that – by gollies – he would take away their loophole that lets them escape paying taxes they owe. But as president, he wimped out, handing a trillion-dollar tax cut to the billionaires and their corporations, including meekly leaving the pampered hedge funders’ loophole entirely untouched.

And where’s that “Make America Great” guy who claimed that only he had the vision and chutzpa to rebuild America, pledging to launch a trillion-dollar investment in our national infrastructure? His chutzpa petered out and his vision shriveled to a hokey scheme of smoke and mirrors, basically asking states and corporations to come up with the money and calling on them to privatize our public infrastructure. Where’s the greatness in that?

Poor Donnie wants to be thought of as modern-day Teddy Roosevelt. So he constantly poses as a populist, bigger-than-life Bull Moose character who’s got the right stuff to bust the profiteering trusts in order to stop their ripoffs and their schemes to knock down the middle class. Sadly, a pose is all it is, for he’s just run-of-the-mill plutocratic president who speaks loudly, but carries nothing bigger than a limp twig when it comes to dealing with the corporate powers.

101 Ways Trump Has Betrayed His Supporters

Keep reading Jim
Get the free Lowdown
Jim's twice-weekly commentaries delivered free to your inbox. No credit card, no catch.
No credit card. Unsubscribe anytime.
Go deeper
Get everything Jim's got
Live Q&As, the Chat & Chew series, radio archives, and more. Less than a cup of coffee a month.
Subscribe for $40/year
Special rate for original Lowdown readers
Regular price: $50/year
Jim Hightower's Lowdown
The Lowdown moved —
Jim didn't stop writing.

Get Jim's commentaries delivered every Tuesday and Thursday — free, to your inbox. Join 50,000+ readers.

Get the free Lowdown →
or go paid
Subscribe for $40/year
Special rate for original Lowdown readers — regular price $50/yr
Send this to a friend