Trump or TV Villain?

It was Frank Underwood, during Season 2 of House of Cards. Though, we wouldn't blame you if you selected Donald Trump. He has repeatedly claimed without evidence that if he loses in November, it'll be because our elections are "rigged," language that could lead to voter intimidation at the polls, and he voiced support for restrictive voting measures that courts found intentionally discriminated against African-American communities.

It was Donald Trump. Several years ago, New York was considering casino gambling in the Catskills, something that would hurt Trump's business in Atlantic City. He and his friends secretly funded newspaper ads opposing the bill, flouting lobbying laws that required that funding to be disclosed. He and his associates were required to pay $250,000 in fines.

While this sounds like a plot line in House of Cards, the story is actually about Donald Trump. After lots of questions about his ties to Russia and Vladimir Putin this election cycle, his joint fundraising committee recently received $150,000 from a Russian-born oil tycoon, who had never before donated to an American politician. Here's a picture of that guy with Putin.

This was Mr. Burns, of course. Donald Trump lives in a gold-plated tower in the middle of Manhattan, so he probably doesn't have guard dogs.

It was Donald Trump. Back in the Republican primary, he liked to brag about how his political donations bought access and influence--the recipients would do whatever he wanted. Once he started facing questions about what exactly he was buying--like an end to investigations into Trump University--Trump denied doing exactly what he had admitted to months earlier.

It was Donald Trump. Why he'd buy a painting of himself through his charity and many other questions have been raised about the possible "self-dealing" he engaged in with his family foundation. Trump also had to pay a fine for illegally funneling money from that foundation to Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi, a surrogate for his campaign, who was at the time of the donation deciding whether to investigate Trump's scammy Trump University.

 

Mr. Burns has a big portrait of himself too, but it's in a museum he helped pay for, not hanging on the wall of some golf course.

This is Donald Trump. He and his family have held several meetings with casino billionaire owner and top GOP donor Sheldon Adelson, who is reportedly spending $25 million to boost Trump's presidential bid. His "ongoing relationship" with the billionaire is a real about-face from the primary, when he accused his opponents of being "puppets" of Adelson for taking his money.

 

 

If you picked Frank Underwood, it's probably because you remembered the part in season two when a wealthy businessman wanted to funnel money into politics through a Kansas City casino.

This was Mr. Burns in The Simpsons movie, though after Donald Trump's attacks on a Mexican-American judge, a Latina beauty pageant contestant, and a Pakistani-American Gold Star family, would you be surprised if he said it (or thought it)?

It was Donald Trump. During the primary campaign, Trump criticized the Supreme Court's Citizens United v. FEC decision. But, just as he started going hat in hand to billionaire donors like Sheldon Adelson, he backtracked on that too. In fact, he hired the architect of the decision to help run his campaign.

 

On the other side, Hillary Clinton has said she'll introduce a constitutional amendment to overturn the decision in her first 30 days. In the second presidential debate, she reiterated her plan to appoint Supreme Court justices who'll see it as wrongly decided as well. Trump has offered no such policy proposals.