Eric Trump: 11 of the most ridiculous things Donald’s son has said and done

He may not have reached quite the same dizzying heights as his bestselling brother Donald Jr in cheerleading for their father, but Eric Trump is more than happy to advance the Trump dynasty’s agenda.

But with that narrative effectively decoupling from reality at some point between Don Sr’s first words and the 2016 election campaign, Eric – along with the other Trumps – has come out with some truly bizarre comments over the years.

And sadly that trend looks set to continue as the Trump family becomes even more of a galvanising point for those on America’s extreme right, as witnessed across the world during his supporters’ bloody storming of the Capitol – with much of the Republican Party seemingly happy to cling to the former president’s coattails as he pulls them further into the realm of conspiracy.

With that in mind, here are some of the most ridiculous things Eric has said and done over the past few years.

Warning Trump Organisation probe could lead to Scotland’s economy being ‘crushed’

Most recently, Eric hit the UK headlines for attacking the Scottish Green Party co-leader Patrick Harvie as “irrelevant and spineless” after he called for the SNP to investigate the financing of the Trump Organisation’s cash purchases of its golf courses in Scotland.

Seemingly unaware of Scotland’s general opinion of the Trumps, he labelled Mr Harvie a “national embarrassment”, mistakenly describing the opposition MSP as a member of the Scottish Government as he claimed: “If Harvie and the rest of the Scottish Government continue to treat overseas investors like this, it will deter future investors from conducting business in Scotland, ultimately crushing their economy, tourism and hospitality industries.”

Mr Harvie responded: “As entertaining as Eric Trump's tantrum is, he doesn't say where his dad got the money to buy his Scottish golf courses, which is exactly why I'm calling on the Scottish Government to seek an unexplained wealth order.”

Claiming coronavirus would ‘magically go away’ after the election

The Trumps have been sowing the seeds to call the 2020 election result into question for months.

As the number of deaths caused by the virus on his father’s watch surpassed 83,000, Eric took to the airwaves to claim “Biden loves” the pandemic because it stopped the Trump campaign from holding rallies.

“You watch – they'll milk it every single day between now and [election day] November 3rd, and guess what? After November 3rd coronavirus will magically all of a sudden go away and disappear and everybody will be able to reopen,” he told Fox News on 16 May.

Urging people to ‘get out and vote’ a week after the election

While it seems much of the Trump family may never be able to move on from the 2020 Election, Eric Trump appeared to have become literally stuck in the past when he urged Minnesotans on Twitter to “get out and vote” – exactly seven days after the ballot.

Although the faux pas was likely a scheduling error, it drew some alarm.

Joe Biden won the state by seven per cent, and the Minnesota Supreme Court was one of many around the US to throw out a GOP legal challenge over the result.

Seeming to think a Roman emperor was fictional

While Donald Trump is not exactly known for his historical accuracy, it seems that Eric may have thought the famous Roman emperor and philosopher Marcus Aurelius was a fictional character.

Writing an op-ed forThe Hill attacking Joe and Hunter Biden, Eric decided to “quote the great Marcus Aurelius from Gladiator”, going on to quote a line written for Richard Harris in his portrayal of Aurelius in Ridley Scott’s 2000 film.

Maybe it’s a fault he picked up from his father?

Attacking the Clintons for hanging out with Ghislaine Maxwell

The subject of Jeffrey Epstein and his confidante – who is currently awaiting trial over charges including sex trafficking and enticement of minors – might not be the best target for the Trumps, given Don Sr’s well-documented relationship with the pair.

But this didn’t stop Eric’s misguided attempt to attack the Clintons using a photo of Ghislaine Maxwell at Chelsea Clinton’s wedding, writing in a hastily deleted tweet: “Birds of a feather.”

Indeed.

Claiming his dad ‘literally saved Christianity’

While it could be argued that Donald has something of a God complex, Eric appears to think the actual (or not, according to whatever you believe) Biblical father of Jesus Christ might owe his father a favour for doing something previously beyond his supposedly omnipotent reach – saving Christianity in the US.

As some churches fought to hold face-to-face congregations during the pandemic, Eric told a North Dakota radio station: “He literally saved Christianity, there's a war on faith in this country by the other side.”

“The Democratic Party, the far left, has become the party of the ‘atheist’, they want to attack Christianity, they want to close churches,” he added. “They’re totally fine keeping liquor stores open, but they want to close churches all over the country.”

Needless to say, Christians had some drastically opposing views.

Trolling Biden about a home he hadn’t owned for 24 years

As the Trumps sought to cast aspersions on the Biden family’s wealth, Eric decided to target a DuPont mansion bought by the Bidens in 1974, writing: “The salary of a U.S. Senator is $174,000 per year. This is Joe Biden’s house ... seems legit.”

Aside from the whole issue of the New York Times’ publication of his father’s elusive tax returns, Eric’s choice of target appeared somewhat misguided – not least because Mr Biden hadn’t owned the property since 1996.

Attending a crisis government meeting despite not holding any official role

As officials held a briefing on Hurricane Laura last August, footage showed Eric awkwardly standing in a corner.

His presence baffled just about everybody, given he was a Trump Organisation executive and held no official role within government.

Failing to understand what a vaccine is

In a less-than-stellar indication of Eric’s crisis management skills, the then-president’s son appeared to confuse vaccines with therapeutics after Donald emerged from Walter Reed hospital.

He told a bemused ABC anchor: “My father literally started day one creating this vaccine, he worked to push this vaccine and now my father just took it.”

Pouring this abomination

During a visit to Ireland in which his father told then-Taoiseach Leo Varadkar he thought he knew “most of” the millions of Irish people living in America, Eric and Don Jr embarked on a government-funded jolly around Doonbeg – an anomalous pro-Trump village in County Clare housing one of the family’s golf courses.

The long-term impact of this diabolical pint on Trump-Doonbeg relations remains unclear.

Suggesting he wants to run for president

It seems one of the most defining characteristics of a Trump right now is to think you’re fit to be president.

In true Succession-esque fashion, Ivanka, Don Jr and Eric all appear in no rush to excuse themselves from the race to carry the increasingly unwieldy MAGA torch into the future – despite the growing flames left in its wake.

Disturbing a significant portion of the US electorate – and likely his siblings, too – Eric “liked” a tweet back in September which read: “46th POTUS Eric Trump.”

While Mr Biden may have assumed that particular place in history, let’s not give the guy any ideas for POTUS #47.

More:  I'm confused—does Trump really believe that he won a Nobel Peace Prize?