During Prohibition, Al Capone was the most notorious New York tough guy. He didn’t grasp fame until after he moved to Chicago. But in those days no one matched him.
In the 1950’s, during the Army–McCarthy hearings, another New York tough guy, a lawyer, Roy Cohn, sitting beside Fightin’ Joe McCarthy pilloried witnesses. McCarthy fumbled. Collapsed. Back in New York, Cohn went to work as a fixer for mafia kingpins like John Gotti.
In 1973 in a New York night club Cohn met Donald Trump. Became Trump’s fixer. Mentor.
Today, Trump’s the modern version of a New York tough guy. And no one matches him. He’s got an iron grip on the Republican Party like no other president. In Tennessee in a primary eleven Republicans just ran for Congress – four days before the primary Trump’s own pollster showed Matt Van Epps losing. Trump endorsed Epps. Epps won by 26 points.
A message rolled across Washington, tremors rattling Republican congressmen: Don’t cross Trump – you’ll pay a price.
That’s a lynchpin of New York tough guys’ power: Fear. But fear doesn’t end in healing.
