Quote · The Bulwark Podcast
Bill Kristol: Trump Wants All-out Kleptocracy
Where this was said
Trump the Con Man: Kristol's 2015 Phone Call
At 48:40 · chapter starts 47:40
The episode's closing conversation turns to Trump's interpersonal charm as a political phenomenon. Miller and Kristol discuss why people who should know better get won over by Trump in private settings. Kristol's key data point is his own 2015 phone call: after writing an editorial that Trump could never be supported, Trump called him personally — jocular, back-slapping, confident he'd come around. [1] — Bill Kristol "After Kristol's Weekly Standard editorial opposing Trump in 2015, Trump personally called him: jocular, back-slapping, confident he'd come …" 47:45 Kristol was unmoved, but he understood in that moment exactly how people get taken in. His diagnosis: Trump is a successful con man, and con men are necessarily good at getting people to like them — that's how the con works. He notes that Trump spent the next three years trying to get the Weekly Standard shut down, a reminder that the charm has a menacing underside. Miller adds a sharp observation about political interpersonal strategy: the Trump approach of jocular flattery, even when complaining, is simply more effective than the whining, self-pitying approach of lesser politicians — and politicians of all stripes could learn from it, whatever else they should reject about Trump.
After Kristol's Weekly Standard editorial opposing Trump in 2015, Trump personally called him: jocular, back-slapping, confident he'd come around. Kristol wasn't moved, but he understood in that moment exactly why people get taken in. Con men are good at this — it's how the con works.
