Trump Finally Lands An "A"-list Celebrity To Show Up At His Inauguration

If by “A,” you mean Asshole:

Who says there aren’t going to be any “celebrities” at the Trump inauguration!

Notorious pharma bro Martin Shkreli is headed to Washington, DC for President-elect Donald Trump’s inauguration...

A Brooklyn judge on Wednesday OK’d Shkreli’s travel to the nation’s capitol between Jan. 17 and 21 to attend a “social event,” according to new court filings.

Shkreli is currently free on bail, having been arrested by the FBI in December, 2015, after being indicted on federal charges for securities fraud. Widely viewed as “the most hated man in America,” the former CEO of Turing pharmaceuticals drew universal condemnation for raising the price of an antiparasitic drug used to treat HIV patients by a factor of 56, or 5600%.  The cost of that drug, known as Daraprim, rose from 13$ to 750$ per pill.

But it wasn’t simply the act of gouging AIDS patients that earned Shkreli the antipathy of millions. It was his amoral, sociopathic defense of himself and his smug demeanor which rankled most.

Shkreli announced his support for Trump in May of 2016, then backtracked, claiming he was joking. The fact that he sought a special dispensation from the Court to attend the inauguration indicates otherwise.

Following the lead of an incoming  Administration clearly being constructed to encompass the worst possible human beings on the planet, it’s not surprising that Shkreli has now become a darling of the Republican Party.  In fact he is now treated as a “star” of sorts within the GOP:  yesterday, College Republicans were forced to cancel a speech planned by Shkreli and the race-baiting Breitbart writer Milo Yiannopoulos at the University of California, due to student protests (one protester succeeded in throwing excrement on Shkreli).

The attendance of Shkreli at Trump's festivities is also unsurprising. Both are narcissistic con men with grossly inflated opinions of themselves. Neither care one whit for the people they harm with their actions. Both crave the spotlight. Both spend inordinate amounts of time on Twitter.

And apparently, both enjoy harassing women.  Shkreli had his Twitter account suspended this week following a period of targeted harassment of free-lance journalist Lauren Duca, author of a viral essay about Trump that has become an Internet sensation. Shkreli facetiously asked Duca to accompany him to the Inauguration, photoshopped pictures of himself over that of Duca’s husband, and generally made himself a nuisance with unwanted come-ons, prompting his troll followers to harass Duca.  Duca has received rape and death threats, some occurring on Christmas Day:

Shkreli said he didn't see his actions as harassment and wouldn't consider them to be "against Duca's will" because she hadn't responded to any messages from him or told him to stop.

Yep.  Shkreli and Trump should get along famously.