Donald Trump loves to hear himself talk. And he loves to tell himself, and anyone else who will listen, just how rich, important and powerful he is. These are realities that anybody who has suffered through an episode of “The Apprentice” can clearly attest to. But how many other people actually believe Trump’s brand of grandiose bravado remains to be seen. One thing seems clear however, most of the Republican presidential candidates don’t seem to be buying what Trump is selling.
The almighty Donald, you see, is hoping to host a debate with the candidates later this month in Iowa, yet, despite his best efforts to become kingmaker, he’s not getting much interest. It seems now that only former House Speaker Newt Gingrich and former Senator Rick Santorum have agreed to participate. That wouldn’t be much of a debate now would it.
The results are an embarrassment to Trump who had pondered his own run for the presidency as a Republican earlier this year only to opt-out so that he could retain his lucrative television show. But this is Donald Trump. He doesn’t get embarrassed, he gets even.
Trump questioned Michele Bachmann’s loyalty on the Fox Business Network on Friday and engaged in some Trump-like bluster.
“I’m very disappointed [in] Michele Bachmann,” Trump said. “She’d come up to see me four times – four times, she’d call me, she’d ask me for advice. She said I should be her vice-presidential, you know, if she wins she’d like me to think about me for the vice presidency.”
Trump also called Ron Paul a “clown-like candidate” in response to the congressman’s criticism of the debate, and he showed similar disdain for former Utah governor Jon Huntsman, calling him “a joke” with “inconsequential poll numbers.”
According to Trump the real reason the candidates are avoiding his great debate is because they are concerned that he will run as an independent candidate against them. And if The Donald decides to enter the presidential race when, exactly, would that happen? At the end of May, of course, right after “The Apprentice” completes its next season.
Because while Donald Trump might believe that the country is in big trouble and that he’s the only person who cab save it…a man’s got to have his priorities, and in America a television show trumps the presidency every time.