Ex-‘gunrunner’ and COVID-19 survivor dangles $100 for Trump

By Alex P. Vidal

 

“I’ve been wrong on everything about Trump; I’ve been wrong about everything on the Republican side of the ledger. But allow me – with that caveat – to make the prediction that Donald Trump will not be the president of the United States. It just will not happen.”

—Cory Booker

 

A CONFESSED former “gunrunner” in the Philippines in the early 70s who now lives in Queens, New York City is rooting for reelectionist President Donald Trump of the Republican Party in the November 3 U.S. Presidential Election and has dared fellow Filipinos here who support Trump’s rival to a $100 bet.

Joseph “Pinky” Nocum, 82, said he is confident that Trump will beat Joseph Biden of the Democratic Party, dismissing results of several polls conducted most recently that showed 77-year-old Biden ahead in the race to obtain 270 electoral votes.

A native of Guimba, Nueva Ecija, Nocum, popularly known in the Elmhurst community as “Mang Pepe”, said he expected Mr. Trump to outshine Biden, a former vice president, in their first debate at the Samson Pavilion of the Health Education Campus (HEC) shared by Case Western Reserve University and Cleveland Clinic in Cleveland, Ohio on September 29 (at 9 p.m. U.S. Eastern Time).

“Naghahamon ako ng pustahan kahit $100 lang sa mga Filipino Democrats para matigil na and debate kung sino talaga ang manalo sa Nobiembre tres (I’m challenging Filipino Democrats to a $100 bet to settle the debate on who will win on November 3),” said Nocum, who survived the COVID-19 in June after being tested positive together with his wife, Karen, 78; and only son, Jason, 40.

 

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Nocum, a retired employee of the U.S. Post Office’s Office of the Personnel Management, “escaped” the Philippines a year after President Ferdinand Marcos declared Martial Law on September 23, 1972.

“I sold all types of guns to different individuals, including politicians and bodyguards of VIPs,” Nocum confessed. “When Martial Law was declared, pinag initan ako at dinamput ang mga kasama ko, so I escaped to the U.S. by marrying a balikbayan woman from Tondo (Manila).”

Nocum said he also voted for Republican presidential candidates in the past like Ronald Reagan, George Bush (father and son), and John McCain.

He “didn’t like” former President Barack Obama for his “lack of economic foresight” but credited Mr. Trump for “stabilizing” the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) despite the pandemic.

“I’m rooting for President Trump because he helped stabilize the New York stock exchange and because he fulfilled his promise to the Americans to improve the economy and eradicate graft and corruption in the government,” Nocum announced. “He has succeeded in draining the swamp.”

The American Prospect, however, belied Nocum’s claim about President Trump’s promise to “drain the swamp” after it was reported that the president had “packed his administration with former lobbyists and corporate executives.”

It turns out this was one of the biggest whoppers in modern American politics as it made the swamp even swampier, insisted the American Prospect.

 

 

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In total, more than 300 lobbyists now reportedly work in the Trump administration–many in key positions overseeing the industries they used to lobby for.

Mr. Trump and his family are reportedly “personally profiting from the presidency.”

Despite Mr. Trump’s promise he would sever all ties with his existing businesses and place all assets in a “blind” trust to eliminate any conflicts of interest, documents reportedly show he remains the sole beneficiary of his trust and still retains the legal power to revoke the trust at any time.

Mr. Trump is also reportedly “catering to billionaires and corporations at the expense of the American people.”

In the fall of 2017, mega-donors reportedly shelled out more than $31 million in political contributions to Trump and Republicans. And in return, they reportedly got a massive $2 trillion tax cut.

The president is also reportedly “using taxpayer dollars to subsidize his luxurious lifestyle.”

Since taking office, Trump’s golf trips alone have reportedly cost taxpayers more than $110 million dollars.

“His children have also charged taxpayers for costs associated with business trips around the world that they’ve taken, including India and Uruguay. Taxpayers even footed the bill for Donald Trump Junior’s hunting trip to Canada,” added the American Prospect.

Finally, the Trump administration has been reportedly “riddled with scandals and ethics violations.”

 

(The author, who is now based in New York City, used to be the editor of two dailies in Iloilo)