These Tweets Expose Donald Trump's Loyalty Problem
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It looks like loyalty among billionaire golfing buddies is only skin-deep.
Donald Trump was a big fan of fellow business mogul and former New York City mayor Michael Bloomberg. But that bond was broken after Bloomberg endorsed Hillary Clinton for president, while taking a few digs at the Donald, during the Democratic National Convention.
AP/Mary Altaffer, - apimages.com
Let's take a look at some of the high praise Trump had for Bloomberg during his time as mayor of New York.
"Mike Bloomberg is doing a really great job as Mayor of New York City," Trump wrote in 2012.
That same year, he also praised Bloomberg’s leadership skills and credited him for driving down violent crime in New York.
Trump said Bloomberg's administration had "foresight and courage" in 2013.
And asked whether he considered Bloomberg a good mayor, Trump said simply: "Yes!"
But then Bloomberg gave a speech at the Democratic National Convention on Thursday.
He called Trump a con, blasted his policy proposals, and downplayed his reputation as a businessman.
"The bottom line is: Trump is a risky, reckless, and radical choice," Bloomberg said. "And we can't afford to make that choice."
That was apparently enough to send Trump off the edge.
He gave Bloomberg a nickname formerly reserved for Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Florida) — "Little Bloomberg" — and described his last term as mayor as "a disaster."
Does it make sense that Trump would take Bloomberg's speech personally? Sure. But the contradictory tweets reflect something deeper about Trump: his policy evaluations are determined almost entirely by his personal feelings toward politicians. In 2012 Trump thought Bloomberg was "doing a great job as Mayor of New York City." Now, following a few harsh words from Bloomberg, Trump deems that very same term a "disaster." There are plenty of other examples of this; he once said Clinton was a "terrific" presidential candidate who "works hard" and "does a good job."
Think of what could happen if Trump's current pal Vladimir Putin ever dissed him.
It's interesting because Trump appears to put a lot of stock in personal and political loyalty. In recent months, he's accused Clinton, Sen. John McCain, Sen. Ted Cruz, and Ex-Pentagon Chief Robert Gates of disloyalty.
"I’m a loyalist," Trump said during an interview on MSNBC's "Morning Joe" earlier this month. "I’m a person that, like, if somebody is with me, I’m with that person."
That's the thing, though. Trump's definition of a loyalist is slightly different than the dictionary definition. A loyalist is one who maintains their loyalty "especially in the face of a revolt," according to Dictionary.com. At the earliest sign of revolt, Trump's loyalty is null and void.
[h/t Andrew Kaczynski]
