TRUMP

WHAT TRUMP STANDS FOR 95
about it? When it comes to paying your workers, you can just refuse
to pay. What will they do? Sue you? Good luck with that, you’ll keep
them tangled up in litigation for years. Do you want to find out what a
woman’s legs feel like? Just touch them and find out. What’s she going
to do, call the police? Who will believe her? Trump knows that the
rule governing society are mostly matters of convention. Ultimately,
they’re not backed up by anything but approval and disapproval. If
you don’t care about experiencing disapproval, then the rules simply
don’t apply to you.
Trump tested this during the presidential debates. He would interrupt
the other candidates over and over again. He would call them
names. He would cut off the moderators. He would say things under
his breath. He would lie. But Trump knew that there was nothing
anybody could do about it. They weren’t going to fling him off the
debate stage. They weren’t going to cut off his microphone. So why
should he let anybody else talk? There was nothing to be gained from
letting anybody else say anything. So why do it? Certainly, after the
fact, commentators could criticize him. They could give the candidates
letter grades, and hand Donald Trump an “F.” But why would
he care about that? That F doesn’t actually mean anything.
Donald Trump recognizes that ultimately, you can do what you want
and generally, nobody will do anything to stop you. If you don’t like
the truth, why not just lie? Oh, sure, people will call you a liar. But you
can just call them a liar as well, and claim they’re out to get you. Then
nobody will know what to believe. And you will have won. The message
Donald Trump sends to every young man is as follows: if you want
something, take it. If people complain, fuck ‘em. Rules are for losers.
This is why the election of Trump is such an infuriating culmination
to his career: it proves him right. Trump thought that he had no need
to listen to experts, that there was no need to apologize for anything.
And he was right. You can do whatever you want, attack whomever
you want. And as long as you double down, and make sure never to