How Do Trump’s Black Friends Feel? It’s Complicated

New York Times ^ | August 17, 2017 | YAMICHE ALCINDOR and MAGGIE HABERMAN

[Vendome]

Smoking!

She would have been a fantastic 1st Lady as well...

[nickcarraway]

That’s the most pro-Hillary thing I’ve ever read on FR.

[WVMnteer]

There is something just so gloriously Trumpian about President Trump being puzzled by the concept of “mixed race” and then having a light bulb go off when Jeter’s name is mentioned.

He does have a peculiar charm.

[WVMnteer]

I think he cares about wealth, celebrity and military rank above all else. You need to be pretty high on each of those scales for him to take you seriously.....or you need to be endorsed by someone high on those scales.

I also think he respects physical attractiveness in both women and men. He told a story in Rick Reilly’s golf book about a fight he had with a guy at a golf club, and he kept calling the guy “A big handsome bastard.” It occurred to me that he would have seen punching an ugly guy as beneath him.

[gathersnomoss]

Money changes everything....

[Tax-chick]

I agree. My point was that he doesn’t seem to care about categories such as race and religion. I believe he evaluates people other than family based solely on their most recent interaction with him.

[WVMnteer]

I agree with that.

And I think that explains how you do get these odd loyalties from time to time. Like Kellyanne Conway doesn’t really fit any of the molds, I listed. (I mean, she is attractive obviously, but she’s not Hope Hicks).

I dunno. Trump has already run his businesses by his own weird instincts and it’s generally served him well. It obviously worked in politics too.

[Tax-chick]

Yes, he’s consistent. I think he’s genuinely puzzled at being accused of racism and all the other -isms and -phobias, because he doesn’t think in those categories. I also think that’s a good characteristic, but it leaves him way out of step and confused with people who do use group identities.