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"Golden Goose" has something to be said for it as Trump's nickname for himself, at least from a physical perspective.
But it actually gets more interesting from there. 1/7 https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1326920264203046915
But it actually gets more interesting from there. 1/7 https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1326920264203046915
Trump is clearly thinking--a normal error--not of The Golden Goose (a fable by the Brothers Grimm), but of The Goose that Laid the Golden Eggs (a fable by Aesop).
The latter fits the point he's trying to make: Fox killed its egg-laying goose (him), and now it's out of eggs. 2/7
The latter fits the point he's trying to make: Fox killed its egg-laying goose (him), and now it's out of eggs. 2/7
But the *actual* fable Trump cites, The Golden Goose by the Bros Grimm, is more apt than the one he meant to cite, particularly at this moment, as we leave one political context for another. 3/7
The Golden Goose had golden feathers, not eggs. As a son was taking it to market, greedy people tried to steal a feather here and there. And everyone who did, stuck to the goose, or to one of the other people already stuck to the goose. 4/7
By the time he reached the capital, the son was leading an entire parade of would-be thieves who were unhappily stuck to his goose or to each other.
The goose, in other words, functioned as fly paper for greedy people. 5/7
The goose, in other words, functioned as fly paper for greedy people. 5/7
Which, of course, is more or less what Trump has done, variously described as a "moral x-ray" or the like. He has shown us the character of his supporters and enablers, mostly in the GOP but some (e.g., Rod Blagojevich) outside of it. 6/7
So even if he meant to call himself the Goose that Laid the Golden Eggs, Trump hit on something when he called himself the Golden Goose: He's like a magnet for people of low character, who are irresistibly drawn to him and reveal themselves in the process. 7/7
