The other DrC and I have commented to each other that we've mostly liked what Donald Trump stood for, what he advocated. On the other hand, we weren't at all sure we'd like him as an acquaintance or friend.
I just read Mollie Hemingway's impressions from a series of three interviews totaling 5 hours she conducted with him at Mar-a-Lago, in which she mostly avoids disclosing his views. I've got to say she paints a different picture of Trump, the person, as opposed to Trump, the public figure. She writes:
Fred Barnes once commented about how weird it was to interview Trump, because he’s far more genteel in person than he is in public. Usually politicians kiss babies and are saccharine sweet in public, but revert to their natural state in less public situations. Trump is something different. He’s the same guy on and off stage, but much kinder in smaller groups.
He’s profane, yes, and full of insults. But he even goes off the record to praise individuals, as he did with several frequent objects of his scorn. And he’d go off the record to criticize individuals he praised publicly. He dished excellent gossip, which I’m not at liberty to share. He was even an incisive critic of public officials’ rhetoric, noting Gov. Mario Cuomo’s overuse of language related to stars and suns.
In future I won't be so quick to say I'm not sure I'd like Trump in person. He wouldn't be the only person who is different when the spotlight is turned off. Hemingway's article shows another side of "The Donald."
