Trump Praised for Showing 'So Much Empathy' to Interviewer Who Revealed His Addiction History
If you ever wondered how a New York City billionaire connects so effortlessly with ordinary Americans, wonder no more.
On the latest episode of the podcast “This Past Weekend w/ Theo Von,” posted to YouTube on Tuesday, former President Donald Trump engaged with host and popular comedian Theo Von in a way that earned the former president plaudits on social media and went a long way toward explaining why tens of millions of Americans adore the 2024 Republican presidential nominee.
In fact, Trump showed “so much empathy” during a conversation about drug and alcohol addiction that his legions of detractors, themselves propagandized by demons in the establishment media, almost certainly would react with astonishment if they ever saw the Trump-Von exchange.
The entire episode lasted for nearly an hour. But a nine-minute clip posted to the social media platform X captured the relevant conversation.
Von began by asking if Trump ever drank or smoked. Trump responded that he had never done either, and he credited his older brother Fred.
As Trump has explained elsewhere, his older brother, Fred Trump Jr., who passed away in 1981 at the age of 42, had long suffered from alcohol addiction and had warned his famous younger brother not to go down the same path.
That prompted Von to reveal his own struggles.
“Yeah, I’m in recovery actually. I’ve been in recovery, so, like most of the last ten years,” Von said of his addition to both drugs and alcohol.
Then, something wonderful happened. Over the next 75 seconds, Trump posed nine different questions about Von’s experience with addiction.
In the process, Trump came across as the polar opposite of his caricature, constructed with such dishonesty by the media.
Furthermore, the former president neither touted his own abstinence nor lectured Von about the comedian’s weaknesses.
Instead, Trump admitted that without his brother he, too, might have succumbed to alcoholism.
“I never had a glass of alcohol. Never, ever did I have a glass of alcohol — because of him,” Trump said of Fred Trump Jr.
“And I would say that if I did drink I could conceivably be the type of personality that would have — like you — that would have a problem,” the former president added.
That comment conveyed not only empathy but self-awareness.
Sophie Louise Delquié, strategic communications advisor to Senate Republicans, called the entire exchange “wholesome.”
“Donald Trump being so inquisitive and concerned about Theo Von’s drinking struggles is so wholesome. He has so much empathy,” Delquié posted.
Donald Trump being so inquisitive and concerned about Theo Von’s drinking struggles is so wholesome.
He has so much empathy. pic.twitter.com/87J2VI9kSB
— Sophie Louise Delquié (@SophieDelquie) August 21, 2024
ALX, a prominent Trump-supporting account with more than 766,000 followers on X as of Wednesday, called it a “Side of Trump that isn’t often shown in corporate media.”
Great conversation about alcohol and drug addiction with Donald Trump and Theo Von here.
Side of Trump that isn’t often shown in corporate media:
— ALX 🇺🇸 (@alx) August 21, 2024
Indeed, Trump and Von spent the first part of the episode chatting about UFC, boxing and music star Kid Rock.
Later, they turned to public affairs, including lobbying and the sinister influence of Big Pharma. On that subject, Von hilariously labeled Democratic Sen. Chuck Schumer of New York the “deviant mastermind.”
Readers who wish to view the entire episode may do so below.
As of early Wednesday afternoon, Von’s conversation with Trump had more than 4.3 million views on YouTube.
Pray that at least some of those viewers approached the conversation with establishment media-fueled anti-Trump biases.
If they did, and if they have a shred of honesty, they will emerge from the conversation with a fresh outlook on the most unfairly misunderstood and criminally mischaracterized public figure in U.S. history.
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