It should not be a surprise that someone like Donald Drumpf has reversed himself a number of times in the past. After all, as USA Today has pointed out, he talked about running for president in 1988, 2000 and 2012. But it was just talk then. Still, many of his past statements, as compiled in the great 1995 book, “The Gospel According to Donald Drumpf” by Ken Lawrence, are incredibly revealing in light of current events and also alarming in his back-stepping or outright lies.
His recent refusal to back away from the support of Klansman David Duke flies directly in the face of a statement he made in 2000 to the Contra Costa Times. “The Reform Party now includes a Klansman, Mr. Duke; a neo-Nazi, Mr. Buchanan; and a communist, Ms. Fulani. That is not company I wish to keep.” And his battle with women, especially female journalists, is of interest against this comment he made on ABC's “Good Morning America” in 1999 when he said, “But certainly, if I were president, women would play a major role in my administration.”
On the legitimacy of his past presidential aspirations, he was quoted by the New York Post in 2000, “For those who suggest that this [presidential bid] has just been a promotion, I want to strongly deny that.” This year’s version certainly has done that and some would suggest that is still the case.
Finally, he was very transparent about his public statements in this revealing 2004 quote from CEO Wire. “I can be very politically correct. I went to the Wharton School of Finance. I got very good marks. I know what to say and when to say it. Sometime I choose not to do that. Sometimes I choose to say something just to get a result.” Indeed.