Billionaire Donald Trump, star of NBC’s The Apprentice, has been in the news lately, not just for his recently-announced presidential campaign seeking the Republican nomination, but for controversial comments the media mogul has made since launching that campaign.
During Trump’s campaign announcement speech, the Donald said many inflammatory remarks about Mexicans, specifically those who immigrate to the United States. Further, as recently as Saturday, during a Republican presidential forum in Iowa, the billionaire stated that Senator John McCain, a former POW during the Vietnam War, is “not a war hero” and that he “likes[s] people who weren’t captured.”
Are these sorts of reprehensible comments merely a part of the Donald’s blustery personality, or is such behavior endemic to the super-rich? Some of the globe’s most famous billionaires weighed in on Trump’s incendiary words.
“Donald’s behavior are not part and parcel to being a man of means,” billionaire Bruce Wayne of Wayne Enterprises told reporters. “I would think that someone who claims to be as cultured and worldly as Mr. Trump does would exercise more self-control at least, if not more self-awareness.”
It should be noted that Mr. Wayne himself has not always exerted such self-control in public, famously being loud and boisterous and acting like a bit of a gadabout. When pressed on this point, Mr. Wayne looked to the twilight sky, excusing himself, muttering something about “pressing business.”
The press also caught up with another power player in business and in world affairs, Tony Stark, better known to the world as Iron Man of the Avengers, stumbling outside the Viper Room in Los Angeles, asking him his thoughts on the Trump brouhaha. Not known to mince words himself, Stark had more than a few words about Trump’s opinions.
“Seriously, we’re going to listen to a man whose campaign platform sound like a doped-up high schooler scribbled it on the back of a Waffle House napkin?” Stark chuckled. “And why the Hell is he leading in the polls among Republican nominees? Voters do know that if he wins that if he wins the general election we’ll have President Trump, right? This isn’t the damn Apprentice.”
Asked what the thoughts of Captain America—who famously fought the Nazis in World War II and who freed many prisoners of war—were on Trump’s remarks about Senator McCain, Stark just shook his head before saying, “Steve said ‘fuck’ like 25 times in under a minute when he heard the news. Never heard Cap curse like that. Still wondering where he learned the phrase ‘ferret-fucking reprobate.”
Even a billionaire renowned for his more dubious business practices seemed to regard Trump’s comments with an air of disgust.
“I am on record as taking a hardline stance on the immigration of extraterrestrial beings, particularly Kryptonians,” Lex Luthor, owner and CEO of LexCorp, said in a prepared statement. “As far as Earth is concerned, however, I believe that all citizens of this planet should be regarded with respect. That includes the United States’ neighbors to the south.”
Luthor paused and went on to say, “Further, I would hesitate to throw any kind of serious regard to a man who would protect the nation’s and the planet’s interests with bluster and bravado.”
As Luthor turned away from the podium, he looked back at reporters with one last jab.
“Also, piece of advice, Donald: The people might respect you more if you accepted your baldness with dignity and grace,” Luthor added, winking at reporters.
Trump has not commented on any of these statements as of press time.