Roughly 10,000 scandals later, it may be difficult to remember one of the key positions that Donald Trump celebrated in 2016: cheating the little guy. Even before he took that trip down the golden escalator, Trump had been involved in over 3,000 lawsuits. Some of those involved cheating people at his fake university, or his long history of racism at his properties. But many involved one of Trump’s more charming habits, that of signing a contract, then simply not paying when the job is done.
Trump didn’t pay the cabinet maker who landed what was supposed to be a $400,000 contract for his casinos. He didn’t pay the plumber or the glass company who worked on his New York tower. He stiffed the company that put carpet in his hotel. He even shortchanged everyone from bartenders to dishwashers who worked at Mar-a-Lago or any of his other resorts. And Trump has repeatedly shorted cities and towns where hundreds of thousands appeared when his traveling circus drops by.
So it should come as no shock that Trump is threatening to cheat one of the contractors who is working on his Dead End Superspreader Tour. What’s a little more surprising is that Trump is talking about this openly, because he apparently believes that cheating the little guy is one of the charming things he does that his supporters like. In fact, he thinks it such a winner, that he made it a regular part of his closing argument.
On Saturday, Trump was in Bullhead, Arizona. When he took the stand, he was apparently unhappy with how the microphone made a short, and apparently singular, squeak. "Whoever did this microphone,” said Trump, “don't pay him. You know I have a reputation for not paying, and it’s a false reputation. When someone does a lousy job, like a microphone that’s no good. Or like teleprompters that fly with the wind, I say ‘don’t pay them.’” Trump pointed up to the teleprompter and waved his hand around when he said that line, so apparently he was calling for that contractor to also eat their expenses for the day.
Trump followed up by telling the crowd that the microphone operator was “probably a RINO.” That line came right after the one where he told them that RINOS are “the lowest form of human life.”
But that wasn’t the end of it. Trump apparently thought this microphone thing was such a good line, that on the final night of campaign, he decided to try it out on his Wisconsin supporters. Trump made a show of complaining about the main microphone at his podium, walking across the stage to grab another, with the difference between the two being absolutely undetectable. Then, after getting a contractor up on stage, Trump went on to humiliate the man.
”He’s not nervous,” said Trump as the man hurried to “fix” a microphone that wasn’t broken in the first place. “I’ll give you the name of his company, never use that company.” Trump then went on to complain about how failing to pay his bills is regarded as a bad thing. “I won't pay the bill of the company that does this crazy microphone, and they'll do a story, 'Trump is a horrible human being, he doesn't pay a bill.'”
Well, Trump is a horrible human being. For many reasons.
If asked about these comments, Trump would surely claim it’s all a joke. And of course it is—he never had any intention of paying any of the contractors involved with his rallies.