{"id":125837,"date":"2019-01-14T12:01:59","date_gmt":"2019-01-14T12:01:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/?p=125837"},"modified":"2019-01-21T11:14:30","modified_gmt":"2019-01-21T11:14:30","slug":"1958-tv-show-had-conman-trump-selling-mystical-wall-to-hysterical-townspeople-must-watch","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/2019\/01\/1958-tv-show-had-conman-trump-selling-mystical-wall-to-hysterical-townspeople-must-watch\/","title":{"rendered":"1958 TV Show Had Conman \u2018Trump\u2019 Selling Mystical \u2018Wall\u2019 to Hysterical Townspeople (Must Watch)"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/a>

Screenshot\/CBS<\/p><\/div>\n

10 Jan 2019 – <\/em>The writer and animator Alex Hirsch yesterday flagged a quirk of television history with an odd connection to present-day politics: In 1958, CBS aired an episode of the series \u201cTrackdown\u201d called \u201cThe End of the World,\u201d in which a confidence man named Trump attempts to sell a western town a \u201cwall\u201d \u2014 in the form of supposedly mystical parasols \u2014 to protect them from the fake threat of a meteor shower.<\/p>\n

What the fresh hell. This is REAL. Filmed in 1958- about a conman who grifts a small town of suckers into building a wall. History not subtle enough for you? GUESS THE GRIFTER’S NAME
\n(And watch until the end) pic.twitter.com\/6FA3p6KC00<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

\u2014 Alex Hirsch (@_AlexHirsch) January 9, 2019<\/a><\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Snopes did the fact-checking legwork<\/a>: In the episode, \u201cDr. Walter Trump, DU MC SSR\u201d \u2014 or \u201cDoctor of the Universe, Master of Cometry, Student of Stellar Reactions\u201d \u2014 whips a western town into a frenzy by tricking its residents into believing they\u2019ll be wiped out by a meteor shower before the day is done.<\/p>\n

As protection, he sells parasols with drawn-on mystical symbols, calling them a \u201cwall\u201d that can magically repel danger.<\/p>\n

Eventually\u00a0\u2014 despite Trump\u2019s threat of a lawsuit \u2014 the show\u2019s protagonist, Texas\u00a0Ranger Hoby Gilman, reveals that Trump is a fraud who\u2019s in cahoots with the town\u2019s sheriff, and midnight passes without any meteor-related deaths. Trump ends up dead, shot by the sheriff in an attempt to cover up the scheme.<\/p>\n

The episode is full of relevant dialogue: \u201cI bet it fits,\u201d Gilman says at one point of the name \u201cTrump.\u201d Elsewhere, a judge warns the ranger: \u201cI live here, I know these people pretty well, and right now there\u2019s nothing in the world that can change their minds [about Trump] \u2014 and anybody who tries to could end up getting hurt. They\u2019re not going to listen.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWell, what if he starts a panic?\u201d Gilman responds. \u201cIt could happen.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWell sure, but you might as well try to spit out a forest fire,\u201d the judge says, adding: \u201cIt\u2019s funny how a big lie can make us all kids again.\u201d<\/p>\n

Later, after the\u00a0narrator refers to Trump as \u201cthe high priest of fraud,\u201d the conman delivers some hauntingly prescient dialogue in a speech to the town.<\/p>\n

\u201cI am the only one! Just me! I can build a wall around your homes that nothing will penetrate,\u201d Trump says.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat do we do?\u201d a someone asks. \u201cHow do we save ourselves?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cYou ask: How do you build that wall?\u201d Trump responds. \u201cYou ask, and I\u2019m here to tell you.\u201d<\/p>\n

Gilman eventually interrupts: \u201cYou\u2019re a liar, Trump!\u201d Finally, as the scheme unfolds, fateful words from the ranger: \u201cYou\u2019re under arrest, Trump.\u201d<\/p>\n

Snopes dug up a full version of the episode on YouTube. Watch it below:<\/p>\n

httpv:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=h1D2ynASqe4<\/p>\n

Go to Original \u2013 talkingpointsmemo.com<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

10 Jan 2019 – In 1958, CBS aired an episode of the series \u201cTrackdown\u201d called \u201cThe End of the World,\u201d in which a confidence man named Trump attempts to sell a western town a \u201cwall\u201d \u2014 in the form of supposedly mystical parasols \u2014 to protect them from the fake threat of a meteor shower.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":125838,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[65,62,167,47],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-125837","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-anglo-america","category-media","category-arts","category-short-video-clips"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/125837","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=125837"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/125837\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/125838"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=125837"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=125837"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=125837"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}