But maybe you haven't heard this: As much as I can't stand the guy, he and I have a lot in common. Or, at least, a whole lot more than I'd like to admit.
Let me explain: Aside from the obvious (we're both Americans, and we both have arms), there are also some disquieting similarities between our personalities. Like the Orange One, I have a big ego sometimes. While I'm fortunate that one of my editors is very good at keeping it in check, I can still bite her head off if I think I'm right about something. And if I think I know more about something than someone else, I don't always listen to them as much as I should.
Like Trump, I also don't like to be told "no." Recently, I pitched a story to my editor and she had to tell me "no" four times. Doesn't that persistence sound like something the Orange One would do?
Like Trump, I can also be impulsive. This has - as my father would say - gotten me dimed up before. There was the time in North Korea I shed my clothes and went swimming in the Tumen River buck naked. Or when, on a visit to the "Hermit Kingdom", I bought into a blackjack game at a Pyongyang casino by putting the keys to my flat back in Berlin on the table (I won them back, thank goodness - truly divine intervention).
The mere thought makes me squirm, but maybe one of the reasons I can't stand Trump is because I see in him things I don't like about myself. What's that called? Projection? I only took one psychology course at university, so I'm not entirely sure.
One thing I'm more sure of, however, is that if you try hard enough, you can find something in common with everyone, no matter how different they might seem on the surface. Let's give it a go, shall we?
Lorde: We both have dark hair, and prefer onion rings to French fries.
The Ayatollah: We both have beards.
Former US president George H.W. Bush: We both dislike broccoli so much it makes us gag.
I could do this all day, but I reckon you get the point: We are all alike in at least some way.
Call it cliché, but that could be a lesson we could all do well to be reminded of. Especially at a time when hostility towards immigrants seems to be greater than ever. Just because we come from overseas, might speak a different language, might have different religious beliefs, or might do things differently than "born-and-bred" New Zealanders doesn't mean we don't share the same desire to make the best lives for ourselves, our families, and our communities. In fact, many of us come here specifically because we want to become New Zealanders.
As the election draws nearer, and the immigration debate grows ever-more acrimonious, it's worth keeping in mind. Because what's the alternative? A New Zealand version of Donald Trump who has much more in common with him than I do.
