President Trump says he knows a lot of words.
But “populist” is not apparently one of them.
Before Trump ran for president, he needed to build his political vocabulary. And so it was in an early meeting with Steve Bannon that Trump encountered the concept of populism.
In a scene captured in Bob Woodward’s new book Fear: Trump in the White House, Bannon told Trump that he was for the common man, against crony capitalism and insider deals.
“I love that,” said Trump. “That’s what I am, a popularist.”
“‘No, no,’ Bannon said. ‘It’s populist.’”
“‘Yeah, yeah,’ Trump insisted. ‘A popularist.’”
Trump has dismissed the book as “lies”.