Trumpism lives on in new thinktank - but critics say it's 'just a grift'

[DonViejo]

The America First Policy Institute calls itself ‘non-partisan’ and a ‘non-profit’ but critics regard it as a cash cow for Trump alumni with stained reputations

David Smith in Washington
@smithinamerica
Sat 17 Apr 2021 02.00 EDT

Malcolm X, Mark Twain, Malcolm Gladwell. Lewis Carroll, Steve Jobs. Douglas Adams, Mohandas Gandhi, Rocky Balboa – all seem unlikely sources of inspiration for a definition of Trumpism.

Yet these are among the prominent figures quoted by members of a new thinktank dedicated to resurrecting former US president Donald Trump’s populist-nationalist agenda.

The America First Policy Institute (AFPI) describes itself as both “non-profit” and “non-partisan”. Critics, however, regard it as a cash cow for alumni of the Trump administration whose stained reputations make it hard to find gainful employment.

Despite Trump’s campaign promise to “drain the swamp”, the AFPI reportedly has a first-year budget of $20m, which it hopes to double to $40m next year, and plans to expand beyond its current headquarters in Arlington, Virginia, to locations that include a spacious office on Washington’s Capitol Hill.

more
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2021/apr/17/trump-thinktank-america-first-policy-institute

[BoringUsername]

1. Yeah, of course it's a grift

That's all it's ever been.

[catbyte]

2. A trumpist "think tank."

That's a bigger oxymoron than jumbo shrmp.

[abqtommy]

3. Lock. Them. All. Up.