Republicans Can't Talk About Divorce

More

I have greatly enjoyed Donald Trump's hilarious, boastful attempts to explain why his divorces should not trouble social conservatives. Last week, Trump told the Des Moines Register, "One of the reasons I was divorced is because I worked very hard. And, you know, that's a good reason. But I worked very, very hard building up a great company." So I guess that justifies it, right?


I had assumed that this said more about Trump's Olympian self regard than it did anything about the Republican Party. But after watching David Brody's interview with Newt Gingrich on the Christian Broadcasting Network, I'm starting to wonder. Here's how Gingrich explained his divorces: "There's no question at times of my life, partially driven by how passionately I felt about this country, that I worked far too hard and things happened in my life that were not appropriate."

That sounds an awful lot like Trump's excuse, and shares the similarity of seeming more concerned with complimenting one's own hard work, patriotism and overall greatness than with, you know, penitently explaining the reasons why one's marriages keep falling apart.

Drop-down bar thumbnail credit: CBN
Jump to comments

Joshua Green is a former writer and editor at The Atlantic.

Get Today's Top Stories in Your Inbox (preview)


Elsewhere on the web

Join the Discussion

After you comment, click Post. If you’re not already logged in you will be asked to log in or register. blog comments powered by Disqus

Video

Miami: The Next Big Start-Up City?

How the city became a center for innovation

Video

Video

A Brief History of Romantic Comedies

From The Atlantic's Chris Orr

Video

Video

Life in 'the New Arctic'

A moving portrait of a fading landscape

Video

Video

The Rise of New York City

A fascinating look at Manhattan in the 1940s

Video

'I Thought It Was Really Funny, but No One Else Did'

A day with New Yorker cartoonist Joe Dator

Video

New Yorkers: The Winemaker

Make your own wine ... in New York City

Video

What Is Methane Hydrate?

"Flaming ice" is a vast natural energy source

Video

NASA's Time-Lapse of the Sun

Now with epic dubstep music

Video

A Video Letter From the Editor

Highlights from the May 2013 issue

Video

Shaken Not Tuned: Cocktail Experiments

Can a tuning fork improve a cocktail?

Video

Video

The Rise of Environmentalism

Tracking 50 years, from the Love Canal disaster to Greenpeace

Video

Is He Cheating? A 1950s Guide

'That little blonde secretary from the office?’

Video

New Yorkers: Vintage Vacuum-Tube Amps

Risking electric shock to restore old amplifiers

Video

The DIY Piano-Bicycle

Everybody needs a hobby

Writers

Up
Down

More in Politics

In Focus

2013 National Geographic Traveler Photo Contest

Just In