‘Commander in cheat’ is a 2019 book by sports writer Rick Reilly that described (predicted) Donald Trump’s behavior in losing the election to Joe Biden. In 240 pages he set out to narrate how the golfer Trump could explain the President Trump. ‘Sir’ Pelham Grenville Wodehouse said: “If you want to know the character of a man, play golf with him.” Today no one, no one, wants to play golf with the 45th president of the United States.
According to testimonies from caddies, golf buddies, club workers and journalists, Trump, in golf, is a bad loser, a liar, presumptuous and a very cheater. In addition, he does not recognize a defeat nor is he kind to the rivals who beat him. Sound familiar?
The outgoing US president says he owns more than 14 golf courses and has the largest collection of courses in history. But in reality, none of its courses are among the top 175 in the United States. According to Reilly, Trump’s strategy is to buy fields at reasonable prices, lie about new investments to attract members, and sue cities to pay less taxes on their property. They even say that there is a golf course where he has eight goats to be able to have a tax discount for being considered “agricultural land”.
In his first 22 months as president, he played 149 rounds of golf, about one every four days, and during his first 19 months, trips to play had cost taxpayers about $ 77 million. Without a doubt, it is a sport that he is passionate about, because he does not need teamwork, he owns the place where he plays and the final score depends on his conscience.
The rules are for everyone except him. He drives the golf cart in the forbidden places (‘putting greens’ and on the starting ‘tees’), does not respect turns, plays over players who are ahead and is disrespectful. He claims to have won 18 club championships, but there is no record of this. On the contrary, titles have been identified at times when that club was not working, and even a victory when Trump was 87 miles away.
His caddies always have golf balls in their pockets to place their boss’s ball in better places, he lifts the ball two meters from the hole to avoid missing the shot, he lies about his handicap (supposedly 2.8) and does not let trees or lakes get in the way; if his ball lands there, he will consider it unfair and will play again.
The problem with many golfers is that before hitting the small ball (the golf ball) they hit the big ball (the one on the planet), and this hit on the floor prevents a good game.
Something similar happens with Trump in his businesses and in his government: he does everything possible so that the big ball does not get in the way of his objectives.
A little cheat in golf or an inappropriate use of the rules for personal gain is like a small blow to democratic institutions. Both are alarms, almost imperceptible, of the erosion of what is correct.
Let’s not forget that, as Levitsky and Ziblatt said, the tragic paradox of authoritarianism is that the assassins of democracy use their own institutions gradually, subtly, and even legally to liquidate it, and, like cheaters in golf, they have a weak commitment. with the rules of the game, they deny the legitimacy of the adversaries and tolerate aggressiveness. Sound familiar?
ALEJANDRO RIVEROS
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