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THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 14 , 2019. WASHINGTONPOST.COM/STYLE EZ RE C
having a very special relationship
with one of the candidates. Main-
stream news organizations typical-
ly are uncomfortable with such
connections, given that they raise
questions among readers and view-
ers about conflicts of interest in
their coverage, real and perceived.
Bloomberg operates one of the
world’s largest media organiza-
tions, with 2,700 journalists and
analysts across its text, magazine
and broadcast operations in 120
countries.
It covered the news about Mi-
chael Bloomberg succinctly. In a
story written by its Washington bu-
reau chief, Craig Gordon, the rele-
vant connection appeared in the
third paragraph: “Bloomberg is the
founder and majority owner of
Bloomberg L.P., the parent compa-
SEE BLOOMBERG ON C3BY PAUL FARHI
It’s an unusual, and awkward,
situation for a news organization.
The boss — the guy who signs the
paychecks — is running for presi-
dent. Can you cover him objectively,
without raising questions about
bias or favoritism?
Bloomberg L.P.’s news division
began pondering that question late
last week when its founder and
principal owner, Michael
Bloomberg, surprised the political
establishment by filing to run in the
Alabama Democratic primary. The
move touched off speculation that
the multibillionaire former mayor
of New York was getting ready to
mount a late run for president.
If so, that development would
put Bloomberg’s extensive news op-
erations in the difficult position ofBloomberg News faces
Bloomberg, the story
BY ROBIN GIVHAN
Of course Rep. Jim Jordan (R-
Ohio) took his seat Wednesday
morning, at the opening of the
public impeachment hearings on
Capitol Hill, wearing nothing but
his shirt sleeves. No suit jacket.
That’s how Jordan dresses. It’s his
power move. His sartorial chest
thump.
All the other members of the
House Intelligence Committee
turned up in suits and ties or
other business attire. But not
Jordan. Everyone else was willing
to offer at least a symbolic nod to
decorous formality, to that old-
fashioned notion of civility. Jor-
dan announced himself as the
man who was itching to rumble.
He was the guy who came not to
do as the Constitution demands
with measured deliberation but
to brawl.
Jordan has a reputation for
rarely wearing a suit jacket. A
Twitter account is dedicated to
his jacketlessness. He’s the man
on the dais who refuses to show
witnesses the same respect that
they inevitably show to him and
to the circumstances. Typically,
men who are called to testify
before Congress wear a suit. They
recognize the seriousness of the
situation and they dignify it. Even
Mark Zuckerberg, who almost
single-handedly made hoodies
and T-shirts the uniform of the
modern mogul, wears a suit.
When comedian Jon Stewart
spoke to Congress in support of
SEE NOTEBOOK ON C3CRITIC’S NOTEBOOKBe a sport,
Jim Jordan,
and put on
a jacket
BY DAN ZAK
Donald Trump Jr. — born into privilege, son to a
sitting president, top executive of a global conglom-
erate — has lately been on a woe-is-me book tour
whose greatest hits include upsetting anyone who
has “leftist” beliefs, dismissing a plurality of Ameri-
can voters and casting his powerful, wealthy family
as victims. After a bumpy but news-making ride, the
tour arrived Tuesday night at the ultimate safe space
for Don Jr.: the Trump International Hotel on
Pennsylvania Avenue.
It was “ceviche night” in the cavernous lobby.
There was a red-snapper option and a scallop option.
A four-story American flag hung over the bar on the
north side of the lobby. Toward the lobby entrance,
Don Jr. was taking photos with fans against a
backdrop of logos for his new book, titled “Trig-
gered: How the Left Thrives on Hate and Wants to
Silence Us.” It is dedicated “to the DEPLORABLES.”About 75th in line was a woman named Jill Hines,
up from north Louisiana. She clutched a note on
lined paper, handwritten in purple ink. She was
going to give it to the man of the hour.
Mr. Donald Trump Jr., it began. We have a lot in
common — we too are trying to stand up against the
left, we too are being censored, our rights and
freedoms are being taken from us one blue state after
another.
Next paragraph: We are families of the vaccine
injured.
Hines, a “home-school mom,” says she’s neither
Republican nor Democrat. She bought a $32 book to
get a message to the president through his son. As
co-director of Health Freedom Louisiana, an advoca-
cy group she says endured censoring by Facebook,
Hines wants to see the creation of the vaccine safety
commission that Donald Trump discussed early in
his presidency.
SEE BOOK TOUR ON C3Trigger
warning: Is he
‘our political
future’?
Promoting his new book in D.C., Donald Trump Jr. poses for photos but not questions
Like David Mamet’s “Glengarry
Glen Ross,” King’s play, receiving its
U.S. premiere at Studio Theatre, is a
comedy of petty corruptions, acti-
vated by the base impulses that can
drive the lust for a buck. While
Mamet’s milieu was a seedy real
estate operation, King’s is the con-
trived glamour of beauty products.
In both situations, greed elbows
out ethics and duping the clientele
brings the promise of riches. Ex-
cept it’s an empty promise, built on
lies and doomed to poison every-
thing.
“White Pearl’s” twist is to set this
story of the wages of capitalism
among young Asian women of vari-
ous nationalities, and watch as the
rivalries, ethnic misunderstand-
ings and outright prejudices ex-
plode. It turns out that a business-
woman from the Subcontinent can
SEE THEATER REVIEW ON C2BY PETER MARKS
In the grand tradition of sending
up a shady business onstage comes
“White Pearl,” Anchuli Felicia
King’s often funny but ultimately
overwrought comedy of an Asian
economic miracle gone off the rails.
We’re in the pristine offices of
Clearday cosmetics in Singapore as
a corporate volcano erupts. An out-
side advertising firm has come up
with a hideously racist commercial
for the play’s titular product, a
cream for the female Asian market
that bleaches skin. The spot, which
is sure to offend Western sensibili-
ties — and most certainly, those of
people of color — has leaked online.
And now, as the company’s Indian
chief executive (Shanta Parasura-
man) gropes to control the damage,
the place goes into hyper-dramatic
free fall.
THEATER REVIEW
‘White Pearl’ could lighten up on the histrionics
TERESA WOOD/STUDIO THEATRE
Jody Doo, Diana Huey, Resa Mishina and Shanta Parasuraman in
“White Pearl,” about a skin-whitening product and a racist ad.SCOTT OLSON/GETTY IMAGESDonald Trump Jr., above in Grand Rapids, Mich., in March, has a new book titled “Triggered.”BONNIE JO MOUNT/THE WASHINGTON POST
Rep. Jim Jordan’s signature
look is sans jacket.BOOK WORLD
If you only know “The
Three Musketeers,” you
owe yourself the pleasure
of its sequel. C2
SEXIEST MAN ALIVEJohn Legend is People’s
Sexiest Man Alive, and no
one is having more fun
than Chrissy Teigen. C2
CAROLYN HAXAloofness from a brother’s
widow feels like losing
another loved one. Leave
a door open for her. C8
KIDSPOST