MEAWW.COM / NEWS / HUMAN INTEREST

Who is Don Winslow? How the bestselling author's videos are leading mission to get Trump out of White House

The mystery writer has said he would not get into his own writing till the election gets over and is busy making viral anti-Trump videos

With the November presidential election approaching, the arena of American politics is getting even more interesting. While the political action committee called MeidasTouch was formed in March this year to prevent President Donald Trump from getting re-elected, it has been found now that even individuals are not lagging behind in attacking the president. One such man is Don Winslow.

The 66-year-old mystery novelist, who has also written extensively for numerous media platforms in the US and overseas, has been making sharp videos that target Trump on every issue — be it his policies on drugs or dealing with the coronavirus pandemic. Winslow has said that he is so serious about his videos that he will not get into his own writing until after D-Day, which is November 3. He recently spoke to Deadline to explain why he has taken up such a plan and how far does he plan to go about it. 

Who is Don Winslow?

Born in New York City on October 31, 1953, Winslow grew up in the beach town of Perryville in Rhode Island. He was inspired by his parents to become a writer. While his father was a non-commissioned officer in the navy, his mother was a librarian. He studied African history at the University of Nebraska. He later did master’s in military history besides leading safaris in Kenya and going on hiking trips in China’s Sichuan province.

He returned to NYC and worked as a manager of a chain of movie theaters, a private investigator in movie theaters and the back alleys of Times Square. His first published novel was ‘A Cool Breeze on the Underground’ (1991). The success of his thriller ‘The Death and Life of Bobby Z’ (1997) saw him becoming a full-time author. The thriller was made into a film in 2007. Neal Carey Mysteries is considered one of his most popular works. In the mid-1990s, Winslow moved to California with his wife Jean, who he got married to in 1985, and they have a son Thomas. They currently reside in Julian, California. 

Winslow, who is also a screenwriter and has written extensively about drugs for almost two decades now, told Deadline that he is not too worried about his audience getting polarized because of his anti-Trump videos. According to him, he is an unusual case and he achieved overnight success in his mid-50s and money is not a concern for him. Taking a dig at Trump, Winslow said the incumbent is a “clear and present danger” to the US and he is fighting him, sacrificing his own money and time. 

Winslow is an all-round critic of Trump

Winslow has, in fact, a broad take on Trump and not just over political issues. He has been going after the maverick businessman-politician even before he won the 2016 election. He is upset with Trump "caging children at the border" and "bragging and laughing about sexually assaulting women on video" to allegedly doing nothing against Russia despite Moscow offering bounties to the Taliban to kill American soldiers in Afghanistan. He said North Korea never stopped testing its nuclear program (despite its dictator meeting Trump on more than one occasion) and accused the Republican of destroying the credibility of institutions like the FBI and justice department along with Attorney General William Barr. 

"Nixon didn’t even do that. It will take years to repair. Trump is the only President in history who takes a victory lap for failing. His horrific environmental policies have set us back decades. His disastrous policies are destroying this great country and we cannot survive four more years," Winslow said without mincing words. 

On Trump’s response to the coronavirus pandemic that has infected nearly five million people in the country and killed more than 158,000, Winslow said the president never had any national plan for "tracking and tracing" for that would have made his administration directly responsible for the disaster. "They knew how bad this was going to be in January and February and instead of tackling it, issuing national orders, Trump kicked it to the states," the veteran author said.

He even blasted the president for pushing for the reopening of schools so that the parents were free to join work and the economy restarts. "He doesn't care how many die to accomplish that. He knows his election depends on it," Winslow added. 

"This is what happens when you elect a salesman President. When the economy crashes this summer – and it will – it will be because the person running it has five documented bankruptcies throughout his business career. Why do you think he’s been fighting to release his tax returns for four years? Well, it’s not because it shows massive wealth because if they did Trump would be taking out full-page ads celebrating his wealth. He’s blocking it because it exposes that he’s not even a billionaire and that he has massive loans to foreign countries."

Why Winslow chooses to make viral videos?

When asked about his preference to make viral videos, Winslow, a man of media, said they really got popular after being made. "We are averaging 2 million views per short film and some of my videos like #TrumpTraitor which dealt with the bounties Putin put on the heads of American soldiers have reached more than five million views across all platforms. It’s an incredible thing to be able to reach millions of people in only a few hours. We are seeing a real impact with these short films," he added, sounding familiar with the MeidasTouch's mission. He also said that Project Lincoln has supported his videos and shared them across platforms. 'The Art of the Fake Victory Lap' is another of Winslow's films that target Trump's summits with North Korean dictator Kim Jong-un. 

The fact that his videos have drawn reaction from the Trump administration and the president’s supporters makes him feel even more vindicated. "I've seen it in real-time, in the number of views, in cultural penetration and I’ve been told by multiple White House correspondents and DC journalists that The White House is very aware of these short films," Winslow told Deadline.

He added: "But the most significant evidence is that Trump supporters have fought so hard to have my videos censored. They have falsely reported our short films as containing sensitive material (nudity, violence, language) when the videos do not contain any of those things. The press picked up on it and ultimately what they tried to do backfired, just as their attacks on Mary Trump’s book did."

Winslow has been so upset with the Trump administration’s policy on drugs that for the second time in not many years, he took out full-page ads in big national dailies like The Washington Post and New York Times slamming the government’s war on drugs, something that has been the focal point of many of his bestsellers. 

Winslow is now hell-bent to see the back of Trump and round the clock, he is busy concentrating on making his videos. He said he is making two videos on an average in a week and gained more than 100,000 followers in a matter of a few days. He also hoped that some big celebrity with a large following embraces his work so that his mission to see Trump defeated succeeds.