Ted Cruz dropped out of the race so fast after Indiana it was almost as if he was playing a mean joke on Carly Fiorina. After all, Fiorina had been Cruz’s “running mate” — a title normally reserved for actual candidates — less than a week. It hasn’t been Fiorina’s year politically, but she’s still rich. That’s important in America. Getting even richer, in fact, was why many people believed Donald Trump was running in the first place. Back when few believed Trump could stand, as he does now, at the precipice of the presidency, his candidacy was widely seen as an effort for Trump to build his brand with free media — and line his pockets while he did it.
The reality TV star himself may have had that in mind, but when he saw the competition he licked his lips and started firing his Trumpian barbs, appealing to a customer-base (let’s use business terms) that has been badly under-served by the status quo. It’s not just haters who like Trump, though there appear to be plenty of them. It’s the rank-and-file disappointed, for whom the names Clinton and Bush are like chalk on a blackboard. On the Today show, Trump said it’ll “be nice” if Cruz gets behind him now, but he doesn’t really care.
As this May 2015 video shows, Trump had a simple plan all along. Sell, promise, sell, promise — and say you know where the money is:
