Donald Trump built upon his expanding fanbase with the CNN GOP debate and a subsequent New Hampshire town hall meeting where he did not correct claims that Obama is a foreign Muslim. Trump has since said he’s not morally obligated to defend Obama, which– as he noted– was the first time he’d upset people “by not saying something.”
A newish story coming down the pike suggests that Trump may need to defend himself. I say “newish” because the information comes from a 2001 book, The Trumps: Three Generations That Built An Empire, which someone plucked off the library shelf. The book details how the Trump family fortune began. Donald’s grandpappy, Frederich Trump, seized opportunity by running a Canadian brothel. Frederich’s sharp business acumen recognized the plight of weary travelers along the notorious White Pass where death, blood-soaked walls, and the harsh Arctic climate awaited. He provided these gentleman “relief” in the form of friendly ladies:
Trump’s grandfather started the family fortune in an adventure that involved the Klondike gold rush, the Mounties, prostitution and twists of fate that pushed him to New York City.
“It allowed him to get together the nest egg he’d come to the United States for,” the author and Columbia University journalism professor said in an interview. “Whether he could’ve accumulated that much money somewhere else, in that short a period of time, as a young man with no connections, and initially not even English, is certainly … unlikely.”
One of the chapters of the book is called “Mining the Miners,” so this isn’t a subtle take on the subject. Frederich Trump specialized in “liquor and sex,” which he found to be much more lucrative than laboring away with “his pick and shovel.” According to the book’s author, Gwenda Blair, Frederich placed ads “referring obliquely to prostitution,” and he made private suites available for ladies to soothe travelers. Officially, the establishment was known as a restaurant, and Frederich preferred to be known as “a cook, bouncer, waiter,” but not “a pimp.” He simply provided easy access to lovely ladies, whereas a pimp is “another business model.”
Surely, this resurrected information won’t affect the Trump campaign, but it does provide more ammunition for business model-related jokes.
(Via CBC News)
