Dr. A and I are avidly watching The Jinx Part Two. We feel connected to the Durst case because he was arrested in New Orleans and one of Dr. A’s former colleagues was on the jury that convicted him of murdering Susan Berman. I also know someone who knew Berman.
As I’ve watched the second series unfold, I’m struck by the similarities between Durst and Donald Trump. I believe bullet points are in order:
- They’re both entitled rich kids who think the world owes them something. Durst wasn’t as ambitious as Trump: murder was his jam not coup plots
- Their family fortunes are real estate based. The Dursts are what Fred Trump’s son aspired to be: Manhattan real estate tycoons, not Queens based slumlords.
- They both spent years evading accountability. Durst was acquitted of murdering his neighbor in Galveston despite admitting to cutting up his body, Sopranos-style. Is there a Pork Store in Texas? Discuss amongst yourselves.
- They both lie incessantly to protect themselves.
- They both dig self-pity. In the immortal words of Livia Soprano, “Poor you.”
- They both regard friends, associates, and relatives as disposable.
- They both have annoying voices with heavy New York accents. Durst sounds like Gilbert Gottfried, Trump sounds like a gazillion borscht belt comedians. That’s why my OG nickname for him was The Insult Comedian.
- They both have impulse control issues and speak when it would be better to remain silent.
- They’re both sociopaths who will do anything to get their way be it homicide or inciting mob violence.
The differences are also significant:
- Durst was generous with his money. Trump is a tightwad who counts every penny even when it would be to his advantage to open his wallet.
- Durst had much better lawyers. Dick DeGuerin wouldn’t have made Michael Cohen’s cross-examination about himself, but good lawyers lose cases too.
- Trump has a cool sounding last name; Durst shares a surname with Fred Durst of Limp Bizkit.
- Durst preferred to keep a low profile; Trump is a media whore.
Durst finally got his comeuppance in a Los Angels courtroom; in part because he testified. I hope that Trump will follow his example, which will inevitably lead to his own comeuppance in a Manhattan courtroom.
Trump has long reminded me of Tim Holt’s spoiled rich kid character, George Amberson Minafer, in Orson Welles’ The Magnificent Ambersons. This quote from the movie is about George, but applies to Donald Trump’s future life as a convicted felon as well:
A thing which, years ago, had been the eagerest hope of many, many good citizens of the town, and now it had come at last; George Amberson Minafer had got his comeuppance. He got it three times filled, and running over.
The post title is, of course, a rhetorical question. Robert Durst may have “killed them all” but Donald Trump has blood on his hands from the Dipshit Insurrection. The BIG LIE can’t wash the blood away no matter how hard his sycophants try.
Robert Durst ruined individual lives; Donald Trump could ruin an entire country. He’s the worst.
The last word goes to The Rolling Stones: