Trump, who praised the mob in 2013 on David Letterman, has a habit of seeing the good in those deemed beyond the pale
By Ed Pilkington
Oct.2, 2019
Is Donald Trump behaving like a mafia boss? Adam Schiff, the Democratic chair of the House intelligence committee, thinks so.
Schiff said the way Trump leaned on Ukraine, seeking dirt on political rival Joe Biden was a “classic, mafia-like shakedown”. Many others have made the same comparison.
But it doesn’t take Congress or the Twittersphere to establish Trump’s affinity for the mob. The real estate developer and former reality star has talked about it himself – on late-night TV.
In 2013, three years before Trump’s presidential victory, David Letterman asked him about it bluntly on his CBS talkshow.
“Have you ever knowingly done business with organized crime?” the host asked.
Trump grimaced, then said: “I’ve really tried to stay away from them as much as possible.
“You know, growing up in New York and doing business in New York, I would say there might have been one of those characters along the way, but generally speaking I like to stay away from that group.”
Then he added: “I have met on occasion a few of those people. They happen to be very nice people.”
Read more at https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2019/oct/02/donald-trump-mafia-letterman-video
