Corbin is professor emeritus of marketing at the University of Northern Iowa.
One of Aesop’s 725 fables was called “The Donkey and His Purchaser.” In the renowned Greek storyteller’s tale, a man wished to purchase a donkey and decided to give the animal a trial to see how it would fit in with his herd. He took the donkey home and put it in the field with the other donkeys. Quickly the donkey on trial joined the laziest and greediest donkey. Seeing who the new donkey chose to spend time with, the man returned the donkey back to its owner because he knew it would also become lazy and greedy. The moral of the story: A man is known by the company he keeps.
Likewise, a parallel five-word phrase from the Bible speaks volumes: “Bad company corrupts good character” (1 Corinthians 15:33).
The phrases are all about ethics and morals. If you hang around dishonest people, your association with them reflects a lack of good judgment, moral standards and character. Might an examination of our 2024 presidential candidates’ associations assist America’s 161.4 million registered voters when they decide how to fill in their ballots on Nov. 5? Your choice for president could also be a direct reflection on your judgment, moral standards and character.
Let’s examine Joe Biden’s and Donald Trump’s respective election associates.
To date, Biden’s re-election campaign is based upon seeking advice, guidance and counsel from Julie Chavez Rodriguez (campaign manager), Quentin Fulks (principal deputy campaign manager) and Mike Donilon (chief strategist).
Biden’s national campaign co-chairs include Rep. Lisa Blunt Rochester (Del.), Rep. Jim Clyburn (S.C.), Sen. Chris Coons (Del.), Sen. Tammy Duckworth (Ill.), media proprietor Jeffrey Katzenberg, former Rep. Cedric Richmond (now Democratic National Committee senior advisor) and Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer.
Thirteen others assisting in Biden’s re-election campaign include Colleen Coffey, Jennifer O’Malley Dillon, Mia Ehrenberg, Grace Landrieu, Charles Lutvak, Alana Mounce, Kevin Munoz, Michael Pratt, Michael Press, Roohi Rustum, Sara Schreiber, Becca Siegel and Michael Tyler.
None of Biden’s 23 re-election associates have a criminal record, are under investigation or on trial.
Donald Trump’s national staff campaign is composed of two co-campaign managers (Chris LaCivita and Susie Wiles), two senior advisors (Brian Jack and Jason Miller), Steven Cheung as communications director and Karoline Leavitt as national press secretary. These individuals have no criminal record.
But other Trump campaign aides, allies, assistants and associates — according to Reuters – have faced criminal prosecution, including Steve Bannon, Elliot Broidy, Michael Flynn, Rick Gates, Paul Manafort, Peter Navarro, Stewart Rhodes (Oath Keepers), Roger Stone and Allen Weisselberg.
Four more people can be added to what MSNBC referred to as “ Trump’s team of felons ”: Tom Barrack, Kenneth Chesebro, George Papadopoulos and Sidney Powell. USA Today claims five additional Trump election associates who’ve had legal trouble of their own: Jeffrey Clark, John Eastman, Jenna Ellis, Rudy Giuliani and Mark Meadows.
The right-wing Wall Street Journal notes that we should not forget Ray Smith III (one of Trump’s 18 co-defendants in the criminal conspiracy to alter the outcome of the 2020 Georgia election) plus Walt Nauta and Carlos De Oliveira, who allegedly mishandled — with Trump — federal classified documents at Mar-a-Lago.
And let’s not forget Trump acolytes in the House — Andy Biggs (Ariz.), Jim Jordan (Ohio), Kevin McCarthy (Calif.) and Scott Perry (Pa.) — who have violated ethics rules by defying legitimate congressional subpoenas related to their involvement in or knowledge of the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol meant to overturn the results of a free and fair election.
The Washington Post reported the number of people in Trump’s orbit “who’ve been convicted of crimes is so great” and a “remarkable universe of criminality.” That article was published in 2019. The size of Trump’s current universe of criminality is even more daunting.
William J.H. Boetcker (1873-1962), a revered Presbyterian minister, is credited for stating, “A man is judged by the company he keeps and a company is judged by the men it keeps, and the people of Democratic nations are judged by the type and caliber of officers they elect.”
What will be the caliber of officers we the people elect on Nov. 5? Will the ethics, morals, judgment and character of the company Biden and Trump respectfully keep be a plausible voting guide? Your good (or poor) judgment, moral standards (or not) and character (or lack thereof) may very well be measured by who you vote for on Nov. 5.
U.S. President Donald Trump speaks during a“ Steel Across America” event ahead of the 25th anniversary of the Sept. 11th attacks on the Ellipse near the White House on Sept. 8, 2026 in Washington, D.C. President Trump welcomed 9/ 11 first responders to the Tunnel to Towers Foundation’ s“ Steel Across America” event featuring a 16,900- pound, 21- foot steel beam recovered.
For Trump, even 9/11 is an opportunity
There was a reason organizers of the 9/11 ceremony in Manhattan told President Trump he could not speak at this year’s memorial service.
A good one, it turns out.
Because in a speech he gave on Tuesday in Washington, he did exactly what they were presumably worried about — he made it about himself.
According to The New York Times, Trump had wanted a speaking role at the service, but the National Sept. 11 Memorial and Museum, which oversees the site, said no, as they’ve maintained for the past decade-plus that the venue and event should be nonpartisan.
Trump has long used awful tragedies to either puff himself up, trash political opponents, or sell lies to the American people.
He blamed a deadly plane crash at Washington National Airport last year on diversity, equity and inclusion policies. He blamed Puerto Ricans for the devastation they endured after Hurricane Maria in 2017. He reportedly considered withholding disaster relief after the California wildfires based on the way affected regions voted. In an interview on Fox News meant to commemorate the 75th anniversary of D-Day in Normandy, he used the occasion to slam former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi…with graves of the dead behind him.
And now, as we approach the 25th anniversary of what many New Yorkers consider the darkest day in modern history, Trump has done it again.
He told a rambling, nonsensical story — one he’s told before — about going to Ground Zero just after terrorists flew two commercial jets into the twin towers. In the story, which no one has been able to verify, despite multiple attempts, he says firefighters had to carry him out of One Liberty Plaza, also known as the U.S. Steel Building, because they thought it was about to collapse.
As CNN fact checker Daniel Dale notes, there’s no evidence Trump went into this building, especially at a time when NYPD and NYFD had locked down the area. There’s no evidence that building was collapsing — in fact, it was deemed structurally sound and reopened within two months of the attacks. There’s no evidence he was carried out of it by firefighters.
But the lie isn’t even the worst part. Pretend it was all true — why would the leader of our country, and a New Yorker, decide to make that tragic day about himself?
Because that’s who Donald Trump is. He’s a malignant narcissist.
He’s also, incidentally, a terrible and ineffectual president, who’s made ill-fated decisions that he has to keep defending, and there’s nothing he won’t do to make himself look and feel better.
Within the first two minutes of his speech, he was cravenly using 9/11 to justify and promote his dumb war in Iran — two events separated by 25 years and 6,000 miles.
“And I will tell you, we’re right now fighting because we have a certain nation that wanted a nuclear weapon, they were very close to getting it, and now they have no chance at getting it. They will never have a nuclear weapon. Iran will not have a nuclear weapon. And they’ve been punished greatly. As you know, we’ve really taken it to them.”
As a New Yorker who lived through 9/11, still one of the worst days of my life, I’m utterly sickened by Trump’s crass, political, and self-promotional framing of that awful day.
And I’m relieved he won’t be given a platform to do it again on Friday’s anniversary in lower Manhattan.
Because for Trump, everything is his for the taking, and absolutely nothing is sacred.
S.E. Cupp is the host of "S.E. Cupp Unfiltered" on CNN.