--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: The Trump campaign had, perhaps less than…" description: "\"“The Trump campaign had, perhaps less than inadvertently, replicated the scheme from Mel Brooks’s The Producers. In that classic, Brooks’s larcenous an..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b28/michael-wolff-423_broadway-show_the-trump-campaign-had-perhaps-less-than_3142352.jpg" --- # The Trump campaign had, perhaps less than inadvertently… ![“The Trump campaign had, perhaps less than inadvertently, replicated the scheme from Mel Brooks’s The Producers. In that classic, Brooks’s larcenous and dopey heroes, Max Bialystock and Leo Bloom, set out to sell more than 100 percent of the ownership stakes in the Broadway show they are producing…” quote by Michael Wolff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b28/michael-wolff-423_broadway-show_the-trump-campaign-had-perhaps-less-than_3142352.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b28/michael-wolff-423_broadway-show_the-trump-campaign-had-perhaps-less-than_3142352.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b28/michael-wolff-423_broadway-show_the-trump-campaign-had-perhaps-less-than_3142352.jpg) > ““The Trump campaign had, perhaps less than inadvertently, replicated the scheme from Mel Brooks’s The Producers. In that classic, Brooks’s larcenous and dopey heroes, Max Bialystock and Leo Bloom, set out to sell more than 100 percent of the ownership stakes in the Broadway show they are producing. Since they will be found out only if the show is a hit, everything about the show is premised on its being a flop. Accordingly, they create a show so outlandish that it actually succeeds, thus dooming our heroes.”” [Michael Wolff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-wolff/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Political schemes can mimic theatrical farce, turning failure into a deliberate success strategy. **In simple terms:** Politics can use a flop plan to win. Key Takeaway Recognize when a plan is designed to fail on purpose. Themes politics strategy manipulation Mood cynical critical Type analytical satirical When to use this quote - campaign planning - media strategy - investment decisions Key Concepts theatrical satire ethical deception Questions to Reflect On - Is it ethical to engineer a failure? - How do you spot genuine versus staged failures? A Different Perspective The analogy may oversimplify complex political motives. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Broadway show](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/broadway-show/) ## Related quotes > [“The Trump campaign had, perhaps less than inadvertently, replicated the scheme from Mel Brooks’s The Producers.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-wolff/the-trump-campaign-had-perhaps-less-than-inadvertently-replicated-the/) [Michael Wolff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-wolff/) > [ You say the character \[of Leo Bloom\] was meek and insecure, and you could've been describing me as well. I was a very shy… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gene-wilder/you-say-the-character-of-leo-bloom-was-meek-and-insecure-and-you/) [Gene Wilder](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gene-wilder/) > [“Time spent with Trump on the campaign plane was often an epic dissing experience: everybody around him was an idiot.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-wolff/time-spent-with-trump-on-the-campaign-plane-was-often-an-epic-dissing/) [Michael Wolff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-wolff/) > [“He would come out of this campaign, Trump assured Ailes, with a far more powerful brand and untold opportunities. “This is bigger than I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-wolff/he-would-come-out-of-this-campaign-trump-assured-ailes-with-a-far/) [Michael Wolff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-wolff/) > [“The leitmotif for Trump about his own campaign was how crappy it was and how everybody involved in it was a loser.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-wolff/the-leitmotif-for-trump-about-his-own-campaign-was-how-crappy-it-was/) [Michael Wolff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-wolff/) > [“Political campaigns, substantially based on volunteer help, attract a range of silly, needy, and opportunistic figures. The Trump campaign perhaps scraped lower in the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-wolff/political-campaigns-substantially-based-on-volunteer-help-attract-a/) [Michael Wolff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-wolff/) > [“In politics somebody has to lose, but invariably everybody thinks they can win. And you probably can’t win unless you believe that you will…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-wolff/in-politics-somebody-has-to-lose-but-invariably-everybody-thinks-they/) [Michael Wolff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-wolff/) > [“On the afternoon of November 8, 2016, Kellyanne Conway—Donald Trump’s campaign manager and a central, indeed starring, personality of Trumpworld—settled into her glass office…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-wolff/on-the-afternoon-of-november-8-2016-kellyanne-conway-donald-trump-s/) [Michael Wolff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-wolff/) > [What I learned from Mel Brooks was audacity - in performance as in life. 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They see the name Mel Brooks, they want something really funny. They don't want to be moved; they don't want to be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mel-brooks/the-audience-they-see-the-name-mel-brooks-they-want-something-really/) [Mel Brooks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mel-brooks/) > [I'm a working-class former apprentice electrician; at the age of 14, if you'd told me I would one day be standing on a stage…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-gordon-sinclair/i-m-a-working-class-former-apprentice-electrician-at-the-age-of-14-if/) [John Gordon Sinclair](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-gordon-sinclair/) ## More by Michael Wolff > [Donald Trump doesn't necessarily stay mad for very long. He's a transactional guy. If you can offer him something, he will take it. Or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-wolff/donald-trump-doesn-t-necessarily-stay-mad-for-very-long-he-s-a/) [Michael Wolff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-wolff/) > [“he could yet make a case for a straight line from Nixon to Trump.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-wolff/he-could-yet-make-a-case-for-a-straight-line-from-nixon-to-trump/) [Michael Wolff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-wolff/) > [“it confirmed Bannon’s worst fear: Trump, in his true heart, was a marshmallow.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-wolff/it-confirmed-bannon-s-worst-fear-trump-in-his-true-heart-was-a/) [Michael Wolff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-wolff/) > [“An important aspect of Kaplan’s New York Observer and its self-conscious inside media baseball was that the paper became the prime school for a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-wolff/an-important-aspect-of-kaplan-s-new-york-observer-and-its-self/) [Michael Wolff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-wolff/) > [“The candidate who billed himself as a billionaire—ten times over—refused even to invest his own money in it.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-wolff/the-candidate-who-billed-himself-as-a-billionaire-ten-times-over/) [Michael Wolff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-wolff/) > [If institutions don't grow, they... well, I don't know what happens to them, because they always grow. 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There's nothing there for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/daveed-diggs/all-the-way-on-the-west-coast-never-having-seen-a-broadway-show-it/) [Daveed Diggs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/daveed-diggs/) > [The first Broadway show that I ever saw was 'Kiss Me, Kate.' I was in New York, on a school trip.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cole-escola/the-first-broadway-show-that-i-ever-saw-was-kiss-me-kate-i-was-in-new/) [Cole Escola](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cole-escola/) > [ “Let us roam then, you and I, When the evening is splayed out across the sky \[...\] Paths that follow like a nagging accusation… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-n-beard/let-us-roam-then-you-and-i-when-the-evening-is-splayed-out-across-the/) [Henry N. Beard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-n-beard/) > [I remember the first time I saw a Broadway show and how excited I was. 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