NEW YORK — Exiting the NoHo restaurant Indochine Monday evening, former business associate to Republican candidate Donald Trump and President of the investment firm Pierce & Pierce, Patrick Bateman, was asked by reporters about his thoughts on Mr. Trump's recent comments about the family of a slain Muslim U.S. soldier.

"First of all, I haven't seen him in a very long time," Bateman told journalists. "The last time was in 1987, at a U2 concert during their Joshua Tree Tour. It was really when they came into their own, commercially and artistically. Before then, I thought they were a little too edgy for my tastes. The bands I really liked were Huey Lewis and the News and Genesis, particularly when Phil Collins took over. He really pushed that band into a brighter, better, and more palatable direction."

When pressed on Mr. Trump's comments, Bateman reportedly said he disagreed with them and that, if he could speak with Mr. Trump directly, he would say, "Cool it with the anti-Muslim remarks."

Mr. Bateman had been a great admirer of Trump back in the 1980s when he was vice president of the company started by Bateman's father. Bateman's ex-fiance, Evelyn Richards, went so far as to say Bateman had been "obsessed" with the real estate magnate and would do "anything in [Bateman's] power to emulate him." When Bateman took over the investment firm in 2006, Pierce & Pierce became the lead arranger in financing for the failed Trump Steaks business venture that collapsed in 2014.

When asked why he hadn't seen Mr. Trump since 1987, Bateman responded with, "Well, he always had one or two of his staffers at meetings. He never liked to go to them himself." Bateman continued that he couldn't remember these staffers' names but that they "were vaguely eastern European or Russian. But they had American accents, so I can only assume they were American. I prefer not to dwell too heavily on that period in my life, and in order to cope with it, I have taken up again the rigorous diet and exercise regime I enjoyed during my twenties."

At 56 years old, Patrick Bateman still appears very youthful and lean, but he told reporters, "Well, you can always be thinner. Look better. In the morning, if my face is a little puffy I'll put on an ice pack while doing stomach crunches. I can do one thousand now. After I remove the ice pack I use a deep pore cleanser lotion. In the shower I use a water activated gel cleanser, then a honey almond body scrub, and on the face an exfoliating gel scrub. Then I apply an herb-mint facial mask which I leave on for 10 minutes while I prepare the rest of my routine. I always use an after shave lotion with little or no alcohol, because alcohol dries your face out and makes you look older. Then moisturizer, then an anti-aging eye balm followed by a final moisturizing protective lotion."

Bateman has admitted in several interviews that beside financial news and stock market updates, he does not regularly keep up on current events. When informed Monday of Mr. Trump's thoughts concerning immigration, birthright citizenship, his daughter, global warming, Hillary Clinton, vaccinations, taxes, women, minority groups, President Obama's birthplace, and John McCain's war record, Bateman told reporters, "He said those things in public? Man, he comes off as a psycho."