Donald Trump is like a car salesman, says Paul Beatty

Beatty said Trump's election was like a reflection of how people do things

Man Booker-winning writer Paul Beatty today likened the new US President Donald Trump to a “car salesman” for his tendency to make promises, and said he had “zero optimism” in how the Presidency would pan out.

“I haven’t really watched the inauguration, I just read some snippets and transcripts. It is just that the tone is so scary. I have zero optimism. That is how I feel,” he said at a press conference at the ongoing Jaipur Literature festival here.

The writer, who is the first American to have won the Booker, said Trump’s election was like a reflection of how people do things that are against their own self-interest and admitted that he was “scared”.

“My wife jokes about it, that Trump’s memoir is going to be called ‘My Tweet’. 

“He says these blatantly racist, and misogynist and fascist things, but still women, latinos and blacks voted for him... Listening to his speech, it is like he is guaranteeing you all these stuff. He is like a car salesman,” the 54-year-old author said. 

The writer is apprehensive about the future under the new regime, attributing his scepticism to the Trump’s “incompetence” of holding the highest position in the country.