They say that when a man insists on owning a sleek, fast, powerful car, it’s because he’s trying to make up for what he lacks in another area.
I don’t know what Republican presidential hopeful Donald Trump drives these days, but I think he’s got a little inferiority complex going about another issue.
Trump gave a speech yesterday in North Carolina. As he has done in the past, he sat himself in front a group of military veterans. In fact, he invited Medal of Honor recipients to sit behind him as he gave a speech about how well equipped he is to become Commander in Chief.
Trump must have been given a script, because he began by honoring the men for their bravery. He gestured toward the group seated on the stage behind his podium, referencing the medal that each had earned in battle.
As is always the case with the narcissistic Mr. Trump, though, he just couldn’t let the compliment to the soldiers stand on its own. He appears to be constitutionally incapable of making a statement that is not about himself.
Trump said:
“Oh, they’re so much more brave than me. I wouldn’t have done what they did.”
Naturally, though, he couldn’t let that self-deprecation stand on its own. He had to make up for his cowardice by immediately adding:
“I’m brave in other ways. I’m brave — I’m financially brave.”
He chuckled, as did the crowd, showing that it was just a joke. But you know they say that “many a truth is said in jest.”
Trump attended a military style high school in New York state. Earlier in this campaign, he claimed that the training at that school, the New York Military Academy, gave him better military training than a lot of real military people get. Again, he was trying to put himself in a good light and cover up his lack of actual military service.
Trump has made other statements about never having served. Those statements were not jokes at all.
For example, after his indefensible attack on the parents of fallen hero Humayun Khan, Trump tried to claim that he has made sacrifices equal to theirs. He claimed that his career is proof that he has sacrificed for his country.
In an even more telling statement, Trump once said this:
“I love the country. I’ve seen what it can do. I didn’t serve. I haven’t served. And frankly I had deferments because of college, like a lot of people did … I always felt a little bit guilty.”
So there you have it. Donald Trump never served, and does feel a little bit guilty. But he won’t leave it there.
He’ll assure you, and anyone else who will listen, that he has made lots of sacrifices for the United States by building all those hotels and casinos. He’ll assure you that he might not have won a Medal of Honor, but he’s really financially brave.
You have to wonder if he has ever in his life given a compliment that he didn’t manage to swing right back to himself.
You can see it all right here.
Featured image courtesy of New York Military Academy
