Donald Trump Jr. explained on Sunday that he coined the term “blue collar billionaire” to describe his father because while the president is a billionaire, he relates on a personal level to the blue collar workers that he has long worked alongside.
“I say that because he’s a builder, he spent his career building projects,” Trump told host Mark Levin during an appearance on “Life, Liberty & Levin.” “He did not build in the confines of a high office tower surrounded by executives telling him what he wants — he spent time on the ground and on the construction sites.”
“He spent time with the blue collar — often times Union, often times Democrat — builders, construction workers, he knows those people, he spoke with them that’s what made him a better builder,” he continued. “He got information from them and he utilized that throughout his career. So while he’s an unlikely voice to be able to be able to speak to working class America, he is able to do that because these been doing it his whole life. He knows those guys, and listened to those guys, and understands those guys.”
Trump further acknowledged that none of the candidates in the crowded Democratic presidential primary field have any practical experience, which he noted is a common occurrence among politicians. The fact that his father has been able to run a business sets him, and his presidency, apart.
“They talk in theory, not in practice,” Trump said. “I think when you look at the successes of [my father’s] presidency … it’s because he has actually done this. He has actually signed the front of a paycheck not just the back. He has actually created jobs, not just talking about it in theory. He has had people, their families, their livelihood, their well-being dependent on his success every day for 40 years. He has actually done it.”
“So when he talks about it — and he talked about it on the campaign trail, this is what we’re going to do in this is how we will achieve X, Y, and Z — now we’re reaping the benefits of that … He understands it,” he continued. “The political class does not. That’s a big problem, the political class are politicians and have done these things. They often times cannot relate to the people they represent.”
Trump subsequently recalled a female congresswoman who was hosting lavish seminars for Democratic candidates to attend in order to learn how to relatably speak to their constituents.
“I just had the greatest laugh about that because imagine that you live there, these are your neighbors and you have to go to someone else in another district to learn how to speak to your neighbors,” Trump said. “Yet the brash billionaire from New York City is able to just go out there and have a conversation with — not the conversation at, we get plenty of lecturing from the other side — but he’s having that conversation with the hardworking men and women of the this country who want to live their American dream. That makes them a terrible person these days.”
“Wanting to experience the American dream for themselves rather than it be our sort of number one export as a country — we sent that American dream to countries in far off lands [where] they hate our guts, they hate our freedoms, they hate our religion, they hate our values,” he continued. “We’ve sent them our American dream due to stupid practices, incompetent politicians, and string of bad decision-making from people who are in charge when no business being in charge of anything, let alone our country.”