Seth Meyers checks in on Donald Trump, who once adhered to the motto that there’s no such thing as bad publicity. Trump’s thoughts on publicity may be in flux, now that the scrutiny of the presidential campaign has exposed seedier aspects of his life, and brought unwanted consequences for the TRUMP brand.
Trump’s affair with the media goes back to the sweet, simple John Baron days. Trump fed the media a greatly enhanced image of himself as wealthy, smart and charitable. Trump was newsy in a gossipy way, and no one knew or cared that he was a phony. In turn, the media ‘gave’ him millions of dollars worth of free ‘advertising’ in business, and in his presidential campaign. Fast-forward to the present day. Trump just woke to realize – the unexpected consequence of so much exposure – is exposure!
Our vision of the ‘real’ Donald Trump is less like the beneficent billionaire, and more like the animated painting of Dorian Gray clumping down the attic stairs. Trump may now have reason to rue his decision to settle scores with this election. He’s in excruciating pain, in the one place it really, truly hurts. Residents are petitioning to have the enormous, gold TRUMP sign removed from their building. While the clever, cajoling Kellyanne Conway sleeps, somebody’s getting Tweet-smacked – even if it’s the AIDS Children’s charity he once conned !