Donald Trump may have lied, manipulated, and led the country into an economic fall. Still, there was one redeeming quality about him. He was strictly against drinking. Somehow, people praised him for not being in favor of drinking.
However, it seems everyone assumed too quickly.
Donald Trump has maintained a steady public persona of sobriety for decades. He has openly spoken against drinking several times. He had attributed his complete abstinence from alcohol to the tragic effects of his older brother Fred Trump Jr.’s fight with alcoholism.
Trump has used this incident to convey a moral lesson about the negative aspects of substance usage. However, there are still many people who disagree with this public persona. There are many who have known Trump during his younger years who claimed that Donald Trump, in fact, definitely drank.
Fred Trump Jr was the eldest of Donald Trump’s siblings. He passed away in 1981 when he was 42 years old. Donald Trump apparently was profoundly impacted by his death. Trump claimed that he had seen his elder brother struggle and eventually fail in the fight against alcohol. He had seen the hardships and struggles of Fred Trump Jr.
Families across the country are affected by substance abuse, and President Trump’s was no different.
“[My brother Fred] had an addiction to alcohol . . . a very tough thing for our family.” The President is working with @ONDCP to create Drug-Free and safe communities for all. pic.twitter.com/zrdTpRFOKj
— The White House 45 Archived (@WhiteHouse45) August 29, 2018
Those moments have impacted him greatly. Rather, they were the reason he took a stance against drinking and drugs. Donald Trump will go on to become very famous for having this ideology, especially in the 1980s.
Donald Trump has made his stance on alcohol very public, yet there are many people in his circle who claim that his abstinence from alcohol is not absolute. They claimed to have seen Trump with drinks after the passing of his brother.
One of these people is Laraby. He is a former bartender at some of Manhattan’s most prestigious nightclubs. He was quoted in a 2019 Vice story as saying he gave Trump light beers, usually no more than three at a time.
According to Laraby, Donald Trump drinks only light beers or Bud Light.
“I can honestly say I’ve never had a beer in my life” — Donald Trump gets personal, when asked about Brett Kavanaugh’s statements on drinking https://t.co/29pjCp1uw0 pic.twitter.com/yhbFxC2HSK
— BBC News (World) (@BBCWorld) October 1, 2018
Among those who claimed to have seen Trump with a drink is Nightclub owner Michael Ault. He added to the doubt, saying that he has personally witnessed Trump drinking. He was with Trump while he was drinking on evenings out at upscale lounges.
Ault admitted to Vice that Trump occasionally drank vodka or champagne, implying a less formal attitude toward alcohol than Trump publicly displays.
Not everyone, though, concurs with these descriptions. Trump’s close friend and co-founder of ID Models, Paolo Zampolli, supported Trump’s sobriety. Despite the fact that alcohol was frequently served at social gatherings, Zampolli maintained that Trump himself always opted for non-alcoholic drinks like Diet Coke. Zampoli remarked that he never saw Donald Trump take a sip of the drinks that people offered him.
Trump reportedly drinks 12 Diet Cokes, watches up to 8 hours of TV daily. https://t.co/ReAe2ac3zC pic.twitter.com/9fY0A5mPSL
— Slate (@Slate) December 9, 2017
Public figures are always held to a higher standard. If they claim to have a narrative, sticking to that becomes their whole brand. In the case of Donald Trump, his sobriety is a sign of self-control and discipline. Even if it is a curated image, any talks deviating from this could prove fatal for his public persona.
