Donald Trump has been in the White House less than a year
and his repeated tweets, rallies and quotes have become a malignant cancer to a
news cycle that feeds off the Presidents need for self-promotion. Many
reporters, bloggers, analysts, and activists have weighed in on whether the President
is mentally ill, egomaniac or a self-absorbed dotard. While some, if not all
may be true, it is by no coincidence the president has modeled himself after a gifted
self-promoter named PT Barnum.
The similarities are astonishing in the methodology used by
both men. P.T Barnum made
many famous quotes over his life, however, “there is a sucker born every minute”
is not one of them and we will come back to that a bit further in the article.
However, this one, is probably one Donald Trump has written down and reads daily
- Without
promotion, something terrible happens... nothing! The quote does not
indicate good or bad promotion, just promotion itself. Another quote that seems
relevant today is this quote often associated with P.T Barnum – “There’s
no such thing as bad publicity”.
Now keeping in mind the events of today and those of yesteryear
are different, the strategy remains the same. In essence, Donald Trump made P.T
Barnum’s biography into his own “Art of the deal” Let’s look back and compare
the two.
P.T. Barnum became a successful promoter after moving to New
York City. Barnum opened Barnum American Museum and displayed the "Feejee
Mermaid" and introduced audiences to "General Tom Thumb". Both exhibits
garnered the attention of both the media and citizens around the county,
however dubious they were people couldn’t help but to look. “Feejee Mermaid”
was a supposed half mammal and half fish creature, however, it was really a
torso and head of a juvenile monkey sewn to the back half of a fish. “Tom Thumb”
another attraction Barnum promoted was a supposed eleven year old boy who only
stood only twenty-five inches tall and
weighed a mere sixteen pounds. The hoax was the boy was only two years old and failed
to grow an inch over the next year.
“There’s a sucker
born every minute” was said by a man named David Hannum , but
P.T Barnum was the catalyst. A man named Hull created a plan in which he would
have a giant statue carved and then buried, then subsequently, had it dug up
and claimed it was some sort of ancient relic. A group of investors,
including Hannum, bought the statue for approximately $37,500 and put it on
display for people to pay to come see it. Barnum could smell a hoax a mile
away so he in turn had a bigger statue made and then trumpeted his as the original and Hannum’s was a fake!
Incidentally, Barnum was also a politician, Barnum served
two terms in the Connecticut legislature in 1865 as a Republican for Fairfield.
Now putting this into today’s context with Donald Trump and his ascension to becoming
the President of the United States, it would be safe to say he promoted himself
successfully too many Americans (Not the majority) as well as Vladimir Putin in
order to be the ultimate showman.
Trump learned early on that one way to win a deal is to
promote himself as a business genius, someone investors would be willing to take
a chance on in hopes of being like him (supposedly rich). He learned how to tap
into divisive areas that would stoke fear into competitors either through
hoaxes or legal annihilation. Trump built a brand and reputation around this,
however, it didn’t always work out. (Trump University, as well as many bankruptcies)
Donald Trump expanded his audience when he began appearing on National
Television via his show “The apprentice”. The notoriety of the persona of the
man saying “Your fired” to another celebrity, titillated audiences as there always
seemed to be a villain within the context of each episode. It also solidified his brand among viewers of
the show and investors on Wall Street. Let’s
also not forget the “Birther” movement Trump inspired across American Politics.
By all appearances, Donald Trump was a student of PT Barnum as he knows all too
well that without promotion nothing happens, so when he wants something to happen,
all he needs to do is hit upon a divisive topic such as Racism, Healthcare,
NFL, wiretapping, fake missile launches, North Korea and Puerto Rico etc.
He will deliver hoaxes to the American people, Congress and
anyone else willing to give him a platform to do so, without regard for the justice
system or respect of the highest office in the land so long as the “Showman” is
on the front page – good or bad. One last similarity between the two is Barnum also
wrote a book “The art of money-getting” (Sound Familiar?) and his biography in
which he allowed people to tweak/change so long as he accrued royalties. For Donald
Trump, he wrote the book “the art of the deal” and allows his name to be rented
on a spectrum of products, so long as he accrues royalties. The reality is that
America and the world has witnessed a con-man elected to the highest office in
the land – aided by Russia and the only one benefiting is the Trump family, while the fate of others are marginalized or left to fend for themselves. (America isn’t the only country with egg on is
face). Let’s all say it together “there is a voter suckered every minute.”
Barnum knew he was a huckster as evidenced by his statement, "There's a sucker born every minute!"
ReplyDeleteThis guy really thinks he is smart. I he is anything like Barnum it is by channeling in a trans and not by intelligent design.
Will someone please show him the egress?