Member-only story
The Malignant Bigotry of Donald Trump
Trump’s racism is likely both a case of nature and nurture, Trump’s father, Fred Trump, was arrested in a Ku Klux Klan rally in 1927 along with 6 other men. All seven of the men were referred to as “berobed marchers,” by the Long Island Daily Press. It is unlikely in the extreme that a “berobed marcher” in the Klan made for a parent who espoused racial tolerance.
In the 70’s, after Fred made Donald president of the Trump organization, the company was sued by the Department of Justice for repeatedly refusing to rent to minorities. Trump property managers at the time were instructed to mark non-white rental applications with a “C”. Those applications were later denied. In the 80’s, the Trump Castle casino was the subject of another discrimination lawsuit for the practice of escorting black employees off of the floor whenever Trump and Ivana were to visit. Black dealers were also not allowed to deal to certain customers in order to accommodate their racist proclivities. In a tell-all book by former president of the Trump Plaza Casino John O’Donnell, O’Donnell recalls a conversation where Trump told him: “Black guys counting my money! I hate it! The only kind of people I want counting my money are short guys that wear yarmulkes every day.” Trump even admitted it, saying in a 1997 Playboy interview that “the stuff O’Donnell wrote about me is probably true.”