Gov. Wolf's DNC speech contrasts his approach to business with Trump's

Taking a page from another successful businessman-turned politician who drew cheers with an anti-Donald Trump speech, Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf will address the Democratic National Convention tonight, seeking to contrast his business practices with those of the billionaire Republican presidential candidate.]

Like former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg last night, Wolf will use his slot to delineate the differences between socially responsible entrepreneurs and Trump’s track record.  “[Trump] talks about preserving jobs and saving jobs – and he actually didn’t do that in his own company,” Wolf said in an interview conducted just a few hours before his 8 p.m. speech. “That’s something we have to be inquiring about: ‘Did you practice what you’re preaching here?’ And the answer is obviously, ‘No.’”

The governor said that he he hoped to highlight the profit-sharing policies he instituted at Wolf, Inc., the family building materials company he took over in 1985. He said this would serve as a not-so-veiled counterpoint to Trump’s business history – littered with bankruptcies, lawsuits and exploitative industries like failed Atlantic City casinos and the scandal-plagued “Trump University.”

“It’s at odds with what’s going on right now, with the ‘One Percent,’” he said. “It’s a way of making sure that you’re recognizing that your success is, in part, because of your employees.”

He said he hoped his speech would highlight these ethical business policies as a counterpoint to the type of ruthlessness that Trump has represented to many on the left.

“That was the foundation of my business; it was the foundation of my success,” Wolf said. “We need to point out that that’s the foundation of a fair society. And it’s also the foundation of a good business.”