News
Louis Staples
Apr 21, 2020
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President Trump isn’t exactly known for leading by example.
Like today, for instance, he lashed out at wealthy institutions like Harvard University for reportedly receiving $9m in emergency funds to keep paying their staff. He even said he’s going to make them pay the money back somehow (though we’re not sure how he’s going to do that).
But then, minutes later, someone asked Trump why staff at his resort in Florida are being furloughed, after ABC News reported that 153 staff were being placed on extended unpaid leave by the multi-billion dollar company.
Surely he can’t exactly criticise Harvard for taking measures to keep paying staff… while being a billionaire owner of a successful organisation that's putting staff on long-term unpaid leave?
Surprise surprise, Trump's tone changed when talking about his own resorts.
He responded to the question in a typically Trump-like manner, complaining about how golf courses like the one at his Florida resort aren’t allowed to be open right now. He then classily passed the blame to his kids, who run his organisation, saying:
My children run them, I love my children. And I wish them well. I look forward to comparing my numbers with my children's numbers.
It might be true that his sons run his businesses right now, but Trump definitely still profits from them.
During his press briefing, Trump repeatedly said how eager Americans are to get back to work and how much they “need money”. But presumably this doesn’t apply to the workers at his organisations, many of whom are on extended unpaid leave from now on.
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