The Extraordinary Parallels Between Donald Trump’s Trajectory and Joe McCarthy’s Demise
Appearing as a guest on CNN, ostensibly to plug his new book The Hellfire Club, afternoon host Jake Tapper used the premise of his novel -- which takes place in Joseph McCarthy-era Washington D.C. , to compare President Donald Trump to the blustery Wisconsin Republican senator who left politics in disgrace.
Speaking with host John Berman, Tapper referenced the novel about the American political climate of the 1950's before pointing out "direct ties to today, including linkage of actual characters" including McCarthy attorney Roy Cohn who advised and championed a young Trump before he passed away in 1986 .
"He was the protege of Senator Joseph McCarthy," Tapper explained. "In real life, Roy Cohn went on to become a mentor to Donald Trump and there is a connective tissue."
"There is also a connective thematic tissue in the sense that Joe McCarthy was a disrupter," Tapper continued. "He went into Washington to upset a lot of apple carts."
"How did it end for him?" Berman interjected.
"Not so great. not so hot," a laughing Tapper added about the senator who was censured by U.S. Senate and saw his career derailed as he was shunned by his colleagues. "Because, by the same way that I think establishment Washington is trying to figure out how to deal with Donald Trump. The disruptive part that is positive as well as the disruptive part that is negative, the lying and the smearing -- which McCarthy did as well -- ultimately caught up with him."
"One other interesting parallel," Tapper pointed out. "McCarthy and Cohen were incredibly loyal to each other, the way you see Donald Trump and Michael Cohen be loyal to each other. That ended up being the undoing of McCarthy and Cohen. their loyalty ended up paving the way for people to destroy them."
Watch the video below via CNN:
