OPINION:
Donald Trump is in the presidential contest for you.
It’s a point many of his supporters consistently bring up to me: Mr. Trump is sacrificing much to run for public office. He has the money, the company, the family, and is of a certain age where it would be easier for him not to run.
Mr. Trump said as much in a speech Wednesday.
“People have asked me why I am running for president. I have built an amazing business that I love and I get to work side by side with my children every day,” he said. “I love what I do, and I am grateful beyond words to the nation that has allowed me to do it. So when people ask me why I am running, I quickly answer: I am running to give back to this country which has been so good to me.”
I choose to believe Mr. Trump and I don’t fault him for how he’s made his fortune. He’s admitted to taking advantage of the debt markets, of politicians and of the media for his own enrichment. For as long as his dealings were legal, I say good for him for getting what he wanted.
For he never pretended to be what he wasn’t — he never gave the illusion that he was building the Trump empire on behalf of anyone but himself or his children.
This stands in stark contrast to Hillary Clinton, who has spent her entire adult life in the public sector — supposedly working for you and me — but all the while enriching herself.
Mr. Trump and Mrs. Clinton are not two heads of the same coin.
One was serving in the public sector, vowing to make you and your family’s lives better. The other was in the private sector, working to make his own life better — like most of us.
Mrs. Clinton — and her husband Bill — view politics as a money-making family business, and they’ve done a good job at it, amassing a net worth of about $111 million. Neither has worked a real-world private-sector job in more than two decades. Mrs. Clinton views the White House as the next rung in her political career — that her “service” to the public entitles her to it.
Donald Trump nailed this in his speech Wednesday.
“She [Hillary] believes she is entitled to the office. Her campaign slogan is ’I’m with her,’” Mr. Trump pointed out, correctly. “You know what my response to that is? I’m with you: the American people.”
Bingo.
Critics of Mr. Trump tell me he’s in it for himself, that it’s all about his ego. That he’s conquered the private sector and now wants to move to the public sector. Perhaps they’re right, but only time will tell.
Time has told with Mrs. Clinton. That’s the difference.
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