Politics
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President Donald Trump and Corey Lewandowski
- President Donald Trump's former campaign manager wants people to know that Trump is like most Americans.
- He told a story about Trump driving his Rolls Royce to illustrate his point.
- Lewandowski also said Trump knows how much things costs, including fast food.
President Donald Trump's former campaign manager insists that billionaire-turned-US President Donald Trump is a regular guy, with experiences just like most Americans - and claims he has the story to prove it.
The New York Times' Michael D. Shear quizzed Corey Lewandowski over Trump's understanding of Americans' daily routines, and he insisted the president understood them well. Lewandowski illustrated this by sharing a story of a pre-presidency Trump getting pulled over by the police for talking on the phone while driving his Rolls Royce.
"He loves to drive. I shouldn't tell the story; I'll get in trouble," Lewandowski told the Times.
He continued: "But I remember he was driving his Rolls-Royce from New York City one day up to the golf course in Bedminster. And guess what happened, right? When you're in New York and you're on your telephone, you're driving your Rolls-Royce up to New Jersey, you get stopped. Right? And so I remember, he's like: 'Corey, I'm going to let you go. I just got pulled over.'"
Car Keys
Donald Trump with his Rolls Royce in 1990.
Trump's campaign team and supporters have positioned him as a man of the people, but skeptics point to his lavish lifestyle and wealth.
Trump himself has sometimes offered anecdotes that suggest he avoids many of the day-to-day activities undertaken by most Americans. In August, he appeared to not understand grocery shopping by stating that you need ID to go shopping while making his case for voter ID laws.
Retail transactions in the US rarely require ID anymore. Shoppers paying with a check or card may have to produce ID, but this is largely done at the retailer's discretion and is much less common than it was a generation ago.
Lewandowski defended Trump against such a characterization, and told The Times it was "absolutely not the case" that Trump "has no understanding of what things cost."
He told a story about buying fast food with Trump to illustrate his point.
"When we would go to a McDonald's or a fast-food place on the campaign trail, he would know what it would cost because he would take out the cash and he would pay for [it]," Lewandowski said.