Upfront returns for new series with a special programme on Donald Trump

• Leading academics and authors with direct contact, discuss the rise of Donald Trump on ‘UpFront’:
• “He’s a con-artist, and as a con-artist, he listens to what you say and then he gives you back an answer of what he thinks you want to hear,” – David Cay Johnston
• “Bend the rules, do whatever it takes,” – Gwenda Blair on Trump’s life philosophy
• “[Trump supporters are] extremely pessimistic about their future, extremely pessimistic about their children’s future,” – JD Vance
• “There’s definitely a certain degree of vulnerability there that I feel doesn’t come through in the televised version of Donald Trump.” – McKay Coppins
• “In general, what Trump has done is, he has reinforced a narrative that the Republican Party is anti-civil rights,” – Andra Gillespie

(Washington D.C. – 15th September, 2016) – In a special discussion to launch a new series of ‘UpFront’, on Al Jazeera English, Mehdi Hasan spoke with five biographers and experts on U.S. Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump to better understand his character and his supporters.

“He’s a con-artist, and as a con-artist, he listens to what you say and then he gives you back an answer of what he thinks you want to hear,” said David Cay Johnston, an investigative journalist who has known Trump personally for 28 years and is the author of The Making of Donald Trump.

“That’s how con-artists succeed, and he’s conned tens of millions of Americans into thinking he’s serious,” he added.

 During the special, Johnston also called out the mainstream media for not reporting more thoroughly on Trump’s links to drug traffickers and mobsters.

“And one of the things that hasn’t been discussed in the news media in America at all on the big networks, in the big papers, is why did Donald Trump risk his casino license for a major drug trafficker? Why was it so crucial this man be his friend, and not his enemy? That he risked his casino license?,” said Johnston.

“While the other builders went to the FBI and said free us of these mobsters, Donald ran and embraced these people, and it was profitable for him, and he’s done this throughout his life,” he added.

“Bend the rules, do whatever it takes, […] You see a loophole, you march right through,” Gwenda Blair, author of The Trumps: Three Generations of Builders and a Presidential Candidate said. 

“There’s definitely a certain degree of vulnerability there that I feel doesn’t come through in the televised version of Donald Trump.” said McKay Coppins, author of The Wilderness and senior political writer at Buzzfeed.

To Trump’s credit, the candidate has galvanized a new group of potential voters for the Republican Party. Polls show that these potential voters tend to be middle-aged white males who have little college education. JD Vance, author of Hillbilly Elegy: A Memoir of a Family and Culture in Crisis, agreed with the general characterisation, but pointed to a more defining indicator.

“They’re extremely pessimistic about their future, extremely pessimistic about their children’s future, and that cynicism has really taken its toll culturally on a lot of the areas where these folks live,” Vance said.

Gwenda Blair pointed to Trump’s starring role as the “big boss” in the reality show ‘The Apprentice’ and the “gift” of Twitter as significant factors toward feeding his image of success.

Some Republican leaders worry that Trump’s message to new voters has been at the cost of damaging the party’s appeal to women and minorities – voters it struggled to attract even before this election.

“In general, what Trump has done is, he has reinforced a narrative that the Republican Party is anti-civil rights,” Andra Gillespie, Associate Professor of Politics at Emory University said.

The panel discussed what would happen if Trump loses the election and Coppins recalled that Trump went on a Twitter tirade after Republican candidate Mitt Romney lost, telling people they should take to the streets.  “Now at the time, he was a reality TV star and no one took him seriously; fast-forward four years, if he tries to do the same thing, there might be people in the streets. It’s a genuinely frightening prospect,” added Coppins.

You can watch a preview here: https://www.facebook.com/AJUpFront/videos/1570901069885224/

Note to Editors

·         This UpFront special on Donald Trump is airing Friday 16th September at 19:30GMT.

·         The full show will be available through this link: www.aljazeera.com/upfront from 19.30GMT onwards. Please add this link to your online copy if quotes are used.

·         Please credit Al Jazeera English and ‘UpFront’ if you plan to use any quotes.

·         Follow UpFront on Twitter @AJUpFront