It’s safe to say that Donald Trump’s alleged affair with porn star Stormy Daniels will do nothing to dissuade his most ardent supporters. These are the people who eagerly accepted the notion that “grab ’em by the pussy” was “locker-room talk.” They are not dissuaded by the multiple women who have come forward with claims of sexual harassment. They don’t care that the president defends racists and denigrates the populations of entire countries. No, they’re not going to break up with Donald Trump over a fling from nearly a dozen years ago. But Daniels’ example shows them how they could leave Trump behind. And why they should, too.
After much anticipation, InTouch published an article this week which it claims is based on a 2011 interview with Daniels (real name: Stephanie Clifford) in which the actress shares how she met Donald Trump at a 2006 celebrity golf tournament and the two began a sexual relationship. The 5,000-word piece details how they communicated (Trump called her from a blocked number, but she could reach him through his bodyguard and his assistant, and he “always took my call or called me back within 10 minutes”), where they hooked up (a party for the release of Trump’s vodka, the Miss USA pageant), and what he was like in bed (I’ll spare you). But the most interesting part of the story isn’t the sex. It’s how the affair ended.
According to InTouch, from the time they first met, Trump told Daniels that she should be on The Apprentice and that he would try to make it happen:
Daniels is best-known for adult-film roles but also garnered minor roles in movies such as Knocked Up (admittedly, as a stripper) and 40-Year-Old Virgin (as a porn star), so one could see how such a mainstream offer would be attractive. And so she went along, passing off the relationship as a business arrangement to her friends and then-husband.
Late in the article, Daniels describes her final in-person encounter with Trump, at his bungalow at the Beverly Hills Hotel. Trump “was obsessively watching Discovery’s Shark Week” (of course) and, at some point in the evening, broke the bad news: No gig on The Apprentice.
Trump appears on the surface to have a transactional nature. If he wants something from you (your body, your money, your vote), he will offer something (a TV role, a fake diploma, a wall) in return. But the deal is always one-sided to begin with and he never seems to actually deliver. Then when he doesn’t come through, he pretends that everything is normal. Daniels was savvy enough to see through him.
Trump seduced white working-class voters with his plans to have Mexicans pay for a wall. There is no wall, nor real plans for one. And if, by some minor miracle, a wall happens, Mexico isn’t paying for it. During the campaign Trump called NAFTA a “disaster,” but chances of the U.S. withdrawing are decreasing daily. He whispered sweet nothings about repealing and replacing Obamacare, but couldn’t muster the energy to rouse support for his own party’s legislation.
The two promises Trump has delivered on—tax reform and a conservative Supreme Court justice—were the only two parts of his campaign pitch that were shared by literally every Republican running for president not just in 2016, but since 1980.
Even a casual reader can tell that Stormy Daniels had mixed feelings about Trump. She called him “fascinating” and “a nice guy.” But when he first initiated sex, she said to herself, “Ugh, here we go.” (How many Republicans said the same thing to themselves in the voting booth last November? ) But when she realized her investment wasn’t going to pay off, she got out.
Pay attention, America. You didn’t get the spot on The Apprentice. And right now Donald Trump is brushing the hair off your shoulder. He is kissing your neck and asking you to stay.
Get annoyed. And get up and go.
