The Flava of Trump

Donald Trump has more in common with Flava Flav than President Barack Obama!

by Dominique DiPrima

“Somebody must have gotten to him,,,,Donald Trump has always been cool…” Those are the words of renowned comedian/author/researcher Dick Gregory on my radio show this Friday. The only kind words I’ve heard spoken of the real estate mogul-cum-reality-television-star by anyone Black in quite some time. It did remind me of a little noticed-story I saw surfing the internet about Mr. Trumps history of donating to democratic candidates in political races.  But these days he has fashioned an image of himself as a republican presidential contender, the spokesman of the birthers who question the president’s legitimacy as a citizen of the United States. The king of branding has re-branded himself as a leader of the fringe right…Many people believe that it is just that- branding, a massive media campaign to boost his television ratings. Some go so far as to say Mr. Trunp never intended to run at all, but merely to boost his own TV “Q” rating which measures a stars popularity on the small screen.

Many of my colleagues in media, as well as Black celebrities in other fields have done an excellent job of pointing out why and how The Donalds birther rants are racist. In fact, the anger over his implied and blatant bigotry have “crossed over” and pundits of many cultures, ethnicities and walks of life have put Trump on blast for questioning the legitimacy of the nations first Black president, and sullying the office itself. They have rightfully pointed out that this has never been done to a sitting president. They have highlighted the echoes of Jim Crow, apartheid and even slavery where a black man had to show his papers or face humiliation, jail, or lynching.

Even after the President showed his long-form U.S. birth certificate Trump was not satisfied, disparaging the President’s academic record and calling for transcripts. As if somehow graduating with honors from Harvard University after serving as the first Black President of its Law Review were not enough educational achievement for any President of any race!

Certainly the President’s announcement that the world’s #1 most-wanted terrorist had been taken out in a long-planned, precision special-ops military raid, made The Donald seem even more shrill & ridiculous, something many of us would not have believed possible.

Still after all of this I can’t help pointing out, just for the record (and in case he really does run for president) that Donald Trump has much more in common with Flava Flav than President Barack Obama! Flava Flav & The Donald are both reality TV hosts (as far as I know the president has never held such a title) where they get to eliminate competitors who are trying to get close to them. Both have franchised their name for profit – whether it be casinos or fried chicken, the formula is basically the same. Both have a history of using ridiculous, overblown rhetoric to successfully get attention from the media. Flava Flav and Donald Trump both have notoriously bad hair and not least of all both men LOVE NEW YORK!

So if The Donald does run in 2012 I say he should shock the world more than John McCain did with his VP pick and choose the ultimate hype man as his sidekick – Trump/Flav in 2012 – it’s Change We Can Cash in on!