Donald Trump’s ego has a dilemma

If he rewards Newt for kissing his ring, there’ll be egg on his face when Romney wins

Published February 2, 2012 3:54PM (EST)

  (AP/Seth Wenig)
(AP/Seth Wenig)

Donald Trump has scheduled a "major announcement" for 3:30 EST this afternoon in Las Vegas. There are conflicting reports on whether he'll be endorsing Mitt Romney or Newt Gingrich. And, of course, it's always possible that the buildup is a sham and that he'll just talk about "Celebrity Apprentice" or one of his golf courses. Understanding Trump's massive ego is generally a good guide to understanding his actions, but in this case there'd be some ego-based logic to his endorsing either candidate.

Gingrich makes the most sense when you consider that Trump's public image as a man of unrivaled wealth, power and influence depends on other Important People treating him as one, thereby cementing the impression in the minds of common folk. So you can imagine how humiliating it must have been for Trump back in December when his plan to play the starring role (as moderator) in what would have been the final GOP debate before the Iowa caucuses blew up in his face, with most of the candidates refusing to take part. Some of them openly mocked Trump, but the real blow came when Romney ginned up a transparently phony excuse and said he couldn't make it; without the national front-runner and most of the supporting cast, there was really no point in going forward, and the debate was canceled.

According to the image Trump has cultivated, every presidential candidate should have come running at the snap of his finger; that they all didn't was, in a way, an emperor-has-no-clothes moment. But Gingrich was the exception. He immediately and enthusiastically accepted the invitation and ridiculed Romney for dragging his feet. In other words, he did his part to affirm the Trump image. (Rick Santorum also said yes to the invitation, but he had yet to surge into contention and was barely receiving any attention at the time.)

Gingrich has also distinguished himself as the Republican candidate most willing to channel the sort of sneering contempt toward Barack Obama that Trump so freely expresses. Not only did Trump spend months fanning the flames of birtherism, he also regularly disparages the president's intellect, suggesting (for instance) that Obama was a "terrible student" who only got into Harvard because of affirmative action:

“How does a bad student go to Columbia and then to Harvard? I’m thinking about it, I’m certainly looking into it. Let him show his records,” he said, without providing backup for his claim.

Trump added, “I have friends who have smart sons with great marks, great boards, great everything and they can’t get into Harvard.”

This is the same game that Gingrich plays when he tells Republican audiences about his plan to challenge Obama to seven three-hour debates this fall. "I'd let him use a TelePrompTer," Gingrich will say. "I'll just rely on knowledge." And while Gingrich doesn't embrace birtherism, he's had no trouble arguing that Obama exhibits "Kenyan, anti-colonial behavior." The idea that Obama is essentially an unintelligent foreign-born or foreign-influenced radical is central to both the Trump and Gingrich messages.

But Romney seems a better bet for Trump when you consider that Gingrich is probably going to lose. More specifically, Gingrich is poised to lose badly in Nevada on Saturday -- and Nevada is where Trump is making his announcement. And his prospects after the Silver State aren't much better. So even if Trump is peeved with Romney over his debate excuse-making and even if he prefers Gingrich's brand of Obama-bashing, there's a strong ego-based case for endorsing Romney: It will be easy for Trump to take credit when he wins.


By Steve Kornacki

Steve Kornacki is an MSNBC host and political correspondent. Previously, he hosted “Up with Steve Kornacki” on Saturday and Sunday 8-10 a.m. ET and was a co-host on MSNBC’s ensemble show “The Cycle.” He has written for the New York Observer, covered Congress for Roll Call, and was the politics editor for Salon. His book, which focuses on the political history of the 1990s, is due out in 2017.

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