It is time for my place on the internet highway to get serious and dive into an issue of great weight and urgency. I will get back to saving democracy tomorrow.
Every few months on Morning Joe, a program I watch and much enjoy each weekday morning, Joe Scarborough compares Donald Trump to Elvis Presley from 1977. At rallies, where Trump is bloated, sweating, and repeating the same rants and resentments of a decade ago, a cheap and nonsensical comparison is attempted with the international music icon. As such, I need to write that such statements miss not only who Trump is, but who Elvis was.
Yes, Elvis struggled physically in the final years of his life. He battled serious medical issues. He gained weight. He perspired heavily under hot stage lights while performing exhausting concert schedules. Those are realities. They are also entirely beside the point from what was inferred (again) this morning. These comparisons, which I surmise are meant to be humorous and even light-hearted, miss the central point. That is, that character matters. Elvis had character. Trump is devoid of character.
Elvis Presley treated the people who came to see him with respect. “Yes, ma’am” and “no sir” were part of his character. He never built a career around humiliating audiences. He never stepped on stage and made personal insults the centerpiece of the show. He didn’t mock people for their appearance, faith, or skin color; he didn’t call others schoolyard nicknames, and I save the last for the most important point. He never turned cruelty into entertainment.
I want readers to consider what Elvis offered his audiences. He knew people worked hard for their money and, in some cases, even sacrificed to get a seat in the auditoriums where he performed. They had driven long distances and waited in line for a chance to see him. In 1977, Elvis performed at the Brown County Auditorium on his final national tour.
There were 6,532 tickets available: 800 for $12.50 and the rest for $15. They expected them to sell out in three hours. I need to put this in perspective for younger readers. There were no online sales, no presales, not even any phone sales. It was in-person at the box office only. Cash only. Four tickets per person.’Unprecedented demand’ is how Ken Eslinger, the person in charge of ticket sales, put it to a reporter back in 1977. The show was sold out in mere hours.
And Elvis gave them a strong performance. He gave them gratitude. For a few hours, he made them feel they mattered.
When did Trump even whisper at one of his rallies that anyone in the audience mattered?
Elvis also had an extraordinary streak of generosity that has become legendary. Stories abound of Elvis giving away Cadillacs, jewelry, cash, and assistance to people who crossed his path. Sometimes it was a friend. Often it was a stranger. His generosity occasionally bordered on recklessness, but it came from a genuine desire to brighten someone else’s day.
Meanwhile, contractors still wait for Trump to pay for services rendered.
I get the current trend of judging historical figures entirely by their worst photographs. So when commentators want to suggest decline, they reach for an image of the 1977 Elvis in a sweat-drenched jumpsuit. But those images also show basic decency when you add character into the equation.
So, Joe, while I respect you and Mika, can we agree that the Elvis-and-Trump comparison lingo has reached its natural end? One man sells cheap grievances at rallies designed to deepen conflict by talking trash in a trashy way.
Elvis sold joy and music, gave himself to grueling nationwide schedules, and was the kind of person anyone would welcome into their home and at the dinner table.
The King deserves better than being reduced to a metaphor for someone else’s seriously flawed behavior.
Enough.
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