Trump vs. Will: Who Reps the Modern GOP?
The relationship between game show host Donald Trump and conservative columnist George Will is a love-hate one. It started back in March when Will suggested in a column that it may be a more feasible strategy for Republicans to abandon hope of obtaining the presidency and instead focus on taking over Congress. To that, Trump on FNC called Will “a totally overrated fool” and said “I don’t think he’s really smart, he looks smart with the little glasses and hair swept to the side.”
Fast-forward to this past Sunday’s episode of ABC’s “This Week” in which Will referred to Trump as “this bloviating ignoramus.”
Responding at lightening speed, Trump tweeted, “George Will may be the dumbest (and most overrated) political commentator of all time. If the Republicans listen to him, they will lose.”
The crew at FNC’s “The Five” discussed and it led to Eric Bolling saying this: “You know what Donald Trump represents? He represents a new Republican, a new GOP, a new conservative, where it’s not the old, established, George Will, boring out of their mind, bored out of your mind listening to him in Washington.”
Does this mean Will will lose his spot on “This Week” to Trump? The jury’s still out on that one. But let’s compare the two.
Here we have George Will
Age: 71
Hair: Hazelnut #81, purchased at your nearest men’s grooming store.
Education: Princeton University
Spouse: Mari Maseng, Republican consultant who previously worked on Texas Gov. Rick Perry‘s presidential campaign before he withdrew from the race.
TV behavior: Subdued, pensive and professorial. Will is someone you can listen to if you’re older than 30 and/or are stocked up on Ritalin.
Best on-air moment: We’ll get back to you on that.
Controversy: As mentioned above, a column by Will in March offered up an alternative plan to Republicans that assumed the GOP wouldn’t win the presidency in the November election. It caused a ruckus in the conservative media and got the attention of the guy conservatives want to piss off the least: Rush Limbaugh. Will was asked to clarify his column and did a little backtracking on “This Week,” saying, “At this point, I would say no, keep fighting [for the presidency], but prepare to retrench.”
Famous relative: Will’s wife Mari Maseng is well-known in Republican politics and worked as a speechwriter in the Reagan White House.
Workload: Twice-weekly column for WaPo, news analyst for ABC and regular panelist on the network’s Sunday program “This Week.”
Accomplishments: Pulitzer Prize winner.
And here’s Donald Trump
Age: 65
Hair: Scorched, tossed, turned, flipped, pressed, twirled…in short, a disaster.
Education: Wharton School of Business, University of Pennsylvania
Spouse: Melania Knauss, a former model.
TV behavior: Obnoxiously loud, confrontational and generally dismissive of everything that can’t be tied back to his wealth.
Best on-air moment: His interview with “Entertainment Tonight” from 2006 in which he called TV personality Rosie O’Donnell the following: “disgusting,” “a slob,” “bad people,” “a disaster,” “fat,” “ugly,” “chubby,” “unattractive both inside and out,” “fat ass” and “a loser.”
Controversy: Relentless birther.
Famous relatives: Three of Trump’s five children, Ivanka, Donald, Jr. and Eric are involved in the production of Trump’s successful NBC show “The Apprentice.”
Workload: President of The Trump Organization, Host of “The Apprentice,” occasional candidate for president of the United States, author.
Accomplishments: Billionaire, New York Times bestselling book
