Did AJ On 'The Sopranos' Go Work For Trump?
We've done it, folks. We've finally found a Donald Trump reference from TV's past that has aged like a fine bottle of wine. (Unlike, say, a bottle of Trump wine, which ages like a botox injection.) In The Sopranos' final episode, AJ reveals he wants to join the Army to further his experience as a pilot. He then tells us his ultimate goal: Becoming a personal pilot for Donald Trump ...
It's not at all surprising that a mobster's son would wish to one day become a personal chauffeur for a mafioso-like figure such as "The Donald," even in the halcyon days of the early 2000s. I wasn't the only one to make this connection.
Trump also has a long history of ties to real-life mob families, and pop-culture has long highlighted Trump's pseudo mobster persona.
But this clip is no less fun just because it isn't surprising. It's not like a "Simpsons called it" thing, so much as it's a "Holy shit, imagine if this scenario were played out." If we were to merge our two realities -- that of The Sopranos and that of our current shitscape -- AJ would have set himself up on quite the career path. I mean, imagine if AJ did become Trump's personal pilot in a brief stint in the army. He'd probably be flying Airforce One right now. Or maybe not. Maybe they have someone specially trained to do that, and AJ would be hanging out in the back playing dice with Rudy Giuliani and yelling at him to keep his hands where he can see them. I don't know. All I know is that, when placed in Donald Trump's orbit, the spectrum of outcomes is anything from being named to the Supreme Court to being put in jail, and AJ would be right in the mix for anything in between.
The clip really hammers home how much Trump's presidency is the Schrodinger's box of career decisions. Tony thought the Army was a stupid decision for AJ, but AJ signing up and getting work from some random reality TV star might have brought him to the white house. It could have also landed him testifying against Trump in court, but again, the point is, you can't plan out your life, and you certainly can't control your kid's life, Tony, because you have no freaking idea what's going to happen.
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Top Image: HBO
