Donald Trump may be taking his lumps and bombing his brand: according to some reports, ratings from his NBC show have fallen as it loses many of the Democratic viewers who no longer see him as an amusing, charismatic, tough-talking tycoon with a bad comb-over to a demonizing, crass political P.T. Barnham who talks in terms of political grassy knolls. They may no longer want to buy his authentic Donald Trump made in China clothing. (Will that line be reduced to an authentic Donald Trump straight jacket?) And now? A serious move is underway to get him out of the Indianapolis 500:
A groundswell of pressure is starting to build on Indianapolis 500 officials to dump Donald Trump as pace car driver at this month’s race.
A Facebook page has rallied more than 7,500 supporters who have placed calls or posted comments on social media sites of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, corporate sponsor IZOD and Chevrolet, sponsor of the pace car program.
They want Trump, well, fired.
“Driving the pace car should not be used as a sound board for some terrible businessman to spew his political aspirations,” said racing fan Chris Hughes, Indianapolis. “Especially with this being the 100th anniversary.”
Like many others, Hughes hopes IMS officials will find someone else, perhaps someone with historic ties to the race.
IMS announced April 5 that Trump would be the pace car driver, an honor that has been bestowed on legendary drivers and celebrities.
At the time, Trump was not a potential candidate for the Republican nomination for president.
And some think that because Trump ignited a firestorm of protest when he demanded to see President Barack Obama’s birth certificate and has since been accused of making racist remarks about Obama and African-Americans in general, the Speedway has a legitimate reason to backtrack on the pace car invitation.
Actually, Trump should be kept from entering the race for another reason:
How can the cars compete with his space ship?
Joe Gandelman is a former fulltime journalist who freelanced in India, Spain, Bangladesh and Cypress writing for publications such as the Christian Science Monitor and Newsweek. He also did radio reports from Madrid for NPR’s All Things Considered. He has worked on two U.S. newspapers and quit the news biz in 1990 to go into entertainment. He also has written for The Week and several online publications, did a column for Cagle Cartoons Syndicate and has appeared on CNN.