The “con”, short for confidence game, is anecdotally described as an elaborate scammer who uses shiny objects and a little sleight of hand to appear that he is something he is absolutely not. You see a lot of these people in boiler rooms, selling you products that don’t exist and then sending you in an untraceable circle when you try to get your money back. Unfortunately, like many who fall victim to scams, many people have also fallen for Donald Trump’s very similar tactics.
Con artists don’t sell reality; they sell an illusion that their victims already want to believe. His supporters already wanted to blame illegal immigration, foreigners and gun restrictions on their problems, and he validated them by flashing around his money and deflecting answering real questions. Imagine what will happen if he is elected to be President of the United States…
Here are 5 reasons that reveal his scams for what they are.
1) Trump’s financial documents prove he’s not nearly as rich as he claims to be
Last July, a press release stated that the candidate made $362 million in 2014. But upon reading the documents it turns out that number is Trump’s revenue, not his income. So while Trump’s total revenue may have been $362 million, that was before payroll, taxes, interest and all other business expenses. Fortune Magazine estimates his actual income at $123 million in 2014 as a more likely estimated number. Now Trump would consider his actual wealth to be in all of his stock options, invested in multiple companies, rather than his actual income. This is still a far cry from the $8.7 billion he estimated his own net worth to be at the beginning of his campaign. So why does this matter?
A good Con Man, as anyone who’s watched the 1973 movie “The Sting” knows, flaunts his wealth to make the impression that he would be a successful president. Without actually stating real policy goals or substance, he just continues to distract with the allure of wealth like a good scammer would.
2) Trump has taken campaign contributions to pay his own businesses
According to the Huffington Post, Trump reported spending personal campaign contributions in:
“$423,372 for rooms and catering at his Mar-A-Lago club, $125,080 in rent and utilities to Trump restaurants, $35,845 on facilities rental and catering on the Trump National Golf Club, and $29,715 on facilities rental and catering at the Trump International Golf Club.”
The Associated Press, in an even more in-depth review, found that at least 10% of all campaign contributions are going to Trump corporate products and services (about $6.2 million). So why should you care?
Generally, a good businessman runs a business that makes its own revenue without the need of contributions from the poor, “unemployed” (remember, all of their jobs were taken by immigrants?) Americans. The word you’re looking for is “con man” not “business man”.
3) Trump’s campaign spent $35,000 on a fake advertising company called “Draper Sterling”
Draper Sterling, if anyone is not familiar, is a combination of the fictional names Don Draper and Roger Sterling
from Mad Men. The advertising agency has no web presence, the actual owner Jon Adkins has no advertising experience and the address listed is a residential address. In the BEST POSSIBLE SCENARIO, Donald Trump has given an old friend a job trying to help him with his up and coming little advertising business. In a way more likely scenario, he’s stashing money for tax write offs or paying off personal debts with campaign donations. Furthermore, you’d think such a rich man would have no problem paying off a 35,000 debt without using campaign donations.
4) He refuses to actually release his tax returns
If Donald Trump doesn’t release his tax returns, he’ll be the first president in over 40 years who hasn’t. His last public tax return was back in 1981, which revealed what one would likely find to be true today: he paid $0 in federal income taxes. He has stated in his campaign that “he likes to pay as little tax as possible because he doesn’t like what the government does with the taxes”, so you can either praise his tax evasion or realize that Donald Trump makes 10 times more than you and pays way less than his fair share.
5) He stashes money in offshore accounts
Sure, a lot of people stash money in offshore accounts. However, maybe a “champion for the working class” who believes in trickle-down economics shouldn’t take his surplus revenue and stash it outside of the country instead of letting it “trickle down”. As many economic theorists will tell you (see John Maynard Keynes), taking money out of circulation is a major reason for the recession. The more a person hoards their money, the less income people have. So realistically, Donald Trump is one of the many “rich” people contributing to your low minimum wage.
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