I personally find it to give an insight into his character (what there is of it, anyway); this is a man who enjoys crushing and humiliating people, by his own admission, and small acts of cruelty like this that he takes joy and sadistic pleasure from are a dangerous warning sign.
To put it another way, you know how they say that one of the early warning signs of a serial killer is torturing animals? And “why didn’t anyone do anything before?” Seeing this kind of petty sadism and power-abuse for the sake of abuse of power is something to point to the next time you run into an apologist who is saying that he doesn’t actually mean what he said about torturing people.
“You’re going to eat what I tell you to eat and you’re going to like it,” doesn’t sound like petty authoritarianism to you? Especially given the context of telling everyone else that they could order what they want from the White House kitchens, which are (justifiably) famous as being high quality? He’s singling out one person and asserting dominance over him, and it’s a continuation of what he’s already done to Christie. The meatloaf is not necessarily important (beyond the ‘plebeian’ aspects); it’s the visible removal of choice and agency from someone that Trump has already tormented in the past.
Added emphasis yours, I should note. As I say, in context, this situation sounds like any sort of family dinner where the host pulls a guest aside and says “You’ve got to have their prime rib. It’s the best. I’m ordering it for both of us.” It’s a heavy-handed dinner host pushing his weight around and asserting authority, sure; a sort of “this is my house” dominance display. But there’s quite a leap from that to it being a ‘small act of cruelty’ and ‘petty sadism’, compared to serial killers and torturers. Otherwise I should be looking at my similarly overbearing-host father-in-law a lot differently when he pulls this routine.
Goodness knows that the man has enough other petty acts of cruelty and sadism in his history to point to (like what he and his dad did to Seagate in Brooklyn. Oy. My dad’s childhood neighborhood, and they refused to sell out to the Trumps so they could build luxury condos. So they retaliated. My dad made the explicit comparison to some of the blocks looking like they’d been though a war).
I dunno. A friend of mine offhandedly remarked the other day I was, “getting stubborn in my old age”. The president tells me to get the meatloaf? If I’m in the mood, sure! Meatloaf can be great.
If I want wings, then I’ll be my usual ass and say, “hey, wanna splitsies?”
(Now I kinda want some meatloaf)
(And wings)
(And a Mr pibb)
Sure, it’s the same sort of aggresively-friendly male dominance things I see Trump do to his guests – overly enthusiastic handshakes, random slaps on the back. Handing you a glass of wine and saying “You like red Zin? Of course you do, drink this.” Scooping an extra serving of food onto your plate and saying “You like my food! Eat more! I want a clean plate, haha!”. Asking what restaurant you want to go to and saying, “Nope, that place is terrible. I’ll take you to the place you should eat at.”
He’s a great guy but I definitely see him do the sort of authoritarian social stuff Donald does from time to time, so it’s something I’m a bit used to, I suppose!
Of course I agree, but pointing out that he’s a jerk hasn’t really been working as a criticism, and might even be working in his favor, especially when it’s petty. Trump is a repeat of Burlisconi, and hopefully we can learn enough from what Italy went through to avoid a repeat:
Yeah, he didn’t mean that he and Christie would each have the meatloaf, he meant that he was having the meatloaf. Christie was going to be his poison tester, and then sit with nothing while the rest of them dined.
