Photo credit: Dave Davidson (Prezography.com)
Real estate mogul Donald Trump loves eminent domain, he’s said as much. He also has no problem using it to his advantage in business. Even if it means a widow loses her home. U.S. Senator Ted Cruz (R-TX) calls him out on his record in a new ad.
I’d love to see Donald Trump or his supporters try explain this away. How is this a conservative value? How is this a populist position? This is his record. It’s how he does business.
This has the potential to be a devastating ad.
Update: A fact check from the New York Times.
The tale of the widow, Vera Coking, has been recirculating for months. The “insiders” the ad cites were the members of New Jersey’s Casino Reinvestment Development Authority, which offered Mrs. Coking $250,000 for her house — a quarter of what she said she had been offered years earlier — before moving to condemnation proceedings.
After an extended battle, Mrs. Coking won and kept her home; it was not, despite the ad’s suggestion, bulldozed. In fact, Mrs. Coking lived to see Mr. Trump relinquish his control over the casino.
I’d encourage the Cruz campaign to pull this ad and re-do it. I think the same point can be made without suggesting Coking’s property was bulldozed when it wasn’t. The fact is Donald Trump will use eminent domain for profit. Trump’s record needs to be addressed, but it doesn’t need to be embellished either.
Disclosure: This writer has endorsed Ted Cruz for President.
