Donald J. Trump ran for president brandishing the label of a “populist” who understands how average Americans think and believe about the state of their country.
Then the president-elect starts his transition. What does he do? He starts enlisting some of the richest cats in the land. As the Washington Post is reporting, he is putting together the wealthiest government in modern history.
This is what Trump’s populism looks like?
According to the Post: “Trump is putting together what will be the wealthiest administration in modern American history. His announced nominees for top positions include several multimillionaires, an heir to a family mega-fortune and two Forbes-certified billionaires, one of whose family is worth as much as industrial tycoon Andrew Mellon was when he served as treasury secretary nearly a century ago. Rumored candidates for other positions suggest Trump could add more ultra-rich appointees soon.
“Many of the Trump appointees were born wealthy, attended elite schools and went on to amass even larger fortunes as adults. As a group, they have much more experience funding political candidates than they do running government agencies.”
So, there you have it. The man who became a champion of the working stiff, the family looking for ways to make it in a tough economic climate, is surrounding himself with fellow rich folks, many of whom parlayed healthy inheritances — as Trump did — into even healthier business empires.
Is this the new definition of populism?
I prefer the historical definition, which means that a populist opposes putting too much power in the hands of the rich.