Ronald Reagan’s heir.Rather, he’s the heir of the 19th-century showman Phineas Taylor Barnum – disingenue extraordinaire and purveyor of humbug (that quaint, old-timey synonym for bullshit).
This is not, of course, to deny the many compelling parallels that Pressman has drawn: Trump and Reagan’s shared affinity for simple answers to complex questions; their common belief that American military muscle – flexed tirelessly and onanistically – can restore the country’s “tarnished” image abroad. All of this is true.
Trump’s appeal has nothing to do with “truth-telling” — we just love good old-fashioned American bullshit
">Donald Trump, the Greatest Show on Earth: He’s the second coming of P.T. Barnum, not the next Reagan
Donald J. Trump is not, as Matthew Pressman argues in the Atlantic, Ronald Reagan’s heir.
Rather, he’s the heir of the 19th-century showman Phineas Taylor Barnum – disingenue extraordinaire and purveyor of humbug (that quaint, old-timey synonym for bullshit).
This is not, of course, to deny the many compelling parallels that Pressman has drawn: Trump and Reagan’s shared affinity for simple answers to complex questions; their common belief that American military muscle – flexed tirelessly and onanistically – can restore the country’s “tarnished” image abroad. All of this is true.