Yesterday real estate mogul, middling reality TV star and combover icon Donald Trump announced he will seek the highest office in the land, and it’s totally for serious and not a vanity campaign or anything you guys. Now seems like a good time to remember how one of the most badass people in the auto industry called Trump out on his bullshit.
Ralph Gilles, currently Fiat Chrysler’s head of global design and previously the president and CEO of the SRT performance division, took issue with The Donald during the 2012 election (remember that one?) when he parroted Mitt Romney’s incorrect claim that Jeep production was getting moved to China. It was a rumor that just wouldn’t die at the time, thanks in no large part to Romney’s use of it in his campaign speeches and ads.
Then Trump went and repeated Romney’s claim on Twitter. But just when all hope for America seemed lost, a hero emerged — a Viper-hooning, coward-smiting hero — to take Trump down in a rare unscripted moment in the tightly-controlled world of cars.
It was fantastic. We made a Tumblr about it.
I think regardless of your personal politics, we can all agree that Trump is full of shit to at least some degree, and that repeating blatant untruths to score political points makes you part of the problem no matter which team you bat for. Three years later, he is still full of shit, and Gilles continues to be awesome.
Contact the author at patrick@jalopnik.com.