Analysis: Trump’s incomprehensible child care comments appear to have broken a dam

https://www.sfchronicle.com/politics/article/donald-trump-childcare-comments-19747778.php

46 comments

  1. >*“Well, I would do that and we’re sitting down, you know, I was, somebody, we had Sen. Marco Rubio and my daughter Ivanka was so impactful on that issue. It’s a very important issue. But I think when you talk about the kind of numbers that I’m talking about that because the child care is, child care is you couldn’t, you know there’s something you have to have it in this country, you have to have it. But when you talk about those numbers compared to the kind of numbers that I’m talking about by taxing foreign nations at levels that they’re not used to — but they’ll get used to it very quickly. And it’s not going to stop them from doing business with us. But they’ll have a very substantial tax when they send product into our country. Those numbers are so much bigger than any numbers that we’re talking about, including child care, that it’s going to take care — I look forward to having no deficits within a fairly short period of time. Coupled with the reductions that I told you about on waste and fraud and all of the other things that are going on in our country. Because I have to stay with child care, I want to stay with child care but those numbers are small relative to the kind of economic numbers that I’m talking about, including growth. But growth also headed up by what the plan is that I just told you about. We’re going to be taking in trillions of dollars, and as much as child care is talked about as being expensive, it’s relatively speaking not very expensive compared to the kind of numbers we’re going to be taking in. We’re going to make this into an incredible country that can afford to take care of its people, and then we’ll worry about the rest of the world. Let’s help other people. But we’re going to take care of our country first. This is about America first, it’s about ‘Make America Great Again,’ we have to do it because right now we’re a failing nation. So we’ll take care of it.”*

    >The New York Times [characterized](https://www.nytimes.com/2024/09/05/us/politics/trump-tariffs-william-mckinley.html) Trump’s remarks as “an extended discourse on the glories of William McKinley and the power of tariffs to cure all that ails what Mr. Trump called a nation nearing economic collapse.” Not a glowing review, by any means, but it certainly does not paint a full picture of the incoherence of Trump’s musings on a monumentally important policy issue that impacts millions of families.

    The Old Grey Lady ain’t what she used to be.

  2. I hope other outlets actually follow this and stop cleaning up his deranged rants. I do love how hard maga was trying to use word salad against kamala last week, so much projection.

  3. Oh how I would like this headline to be true. Sadly, I’m scarred by every other headline that intimated that “this time it’s really over for Trump”

  4. This statement by Trump isn’t by any level of magnitude crazier or weirder than any other deranged statement he’s made in the last 10 years. He’s always been a vacuous, blathering shithead.

    I’m legit confused why this is suddenly a big deal.

    Edit: ok ok ok. This statement is worse than a lot of his other unhinged commments. But please don’t forget this is the same idiot that told people to shine a light up their ass to kill covid.

  5. The Democrats can replay footage of this mangled mess in their advertising campaign. Firstly, a clear and simple statement on childcare, then the Trump babble, followed by ‘who do you believe?’.

  6. Trump’s answer was batshit crazy, no other way to say it. I saw it and thought, “What in the hell is he talking about?” But reading it actually makes clear how insane it/he is. I certainly hope a dam has broken because this is not normal behavior for anyone. It’s certainly not acceptable for someone who wants to be president.

  7. No dam has been broken. Check out main stream sources like The Washington Post, AP, politico, and others. They are all normal washing Trump’s statements and completely ignoring the word salad.

  8. He’s sounding worse than Palin. Maybe he should bring her in to improve his communication.

  9. He couldn’t care less about families, childcare, this is a millionaire who never changed a diper, baby sat or drove his own children to a football match. He do s not live in the reality of normal people or his base which he hates

  11. *We’re going to make this into an incredible country that can afford to take care of its people.*

    Right, just like he did between 2016-2020.

  12. He has too much going on to even manage his own personal life. There is no way in hell that he should be allowed to run anything government at all. The man couldn’t even manage a McDonald’s.

  14. Guy thinks tariffs get paid by foreign companies. No, they get paid by US consumers.
    I learnt that in high school economics…

  16. What? We are now demanding that the media quote Trump verbatim, without summarizing or reinterpreting his words? if they did that, they’d no longer be carrying water for fascism

    /s

  17. The New York Times and most other MSM outlets are NOT operating from any motivation for truth, journalistic ethics, or patriotism or any other admirable reasons. They are cynically taking the approach of covering Trump with whatever slant or reporting technique will generate the most views and advertising revenue – shameful but true.

  18. “I award you no points, and may God have mercy on your soul.”

  19. Because the Harris campaign noticed and quoted it. The media was going to cover it up like they always do.

  20. I really like Lawrence O’Donnell’s take, that the answer was stupid, but the audience applauded. They clapped for this nonsense.

    Yeah, they were applauding more tax cuts.

  21. >I personally believe that U.S. Americans are unable to do so because, um, some people out there in our nation don’t have maps and, uh, I believe that our, uh, education like such as, uh, South Africa and, uh, the Iraq and everywhere like such as, and I believe that they should, uh, our education over here in the U.S. should help the U.S., uh, should help South Africa and should help Iraq and the Asian countries, so we will be able to build up our future.

    What this poor girl went through makes me think Trump’s “lost his nerve”, as my father would say. His fight or flight is moving away from fight in a hurry. If he had someone who cared, they would tell him to talk to someone.

  22. Lots of people who have supported Trump in the past, or voted for him in 2016-2020, have desperately been looking for an off-ramp from the shitshow. It will only accelerate from here.

  23. “But growth also headed up by what the plan is that I just told you about.”

    That’s my favorite part, where – in the middle of that absolute mess of sad nothing – you get this glimpse of child-level attempt at inception.

  24. I agree! The idiot should be quoted verbatim by the media.

  25. What’s so special about this word salad? He always talks like this. That’s how he wins over stupid people. They think he said something.

  26. Authentic gibberish.

    Please, let’s just let him keep talking. That’s all we need to do. Maybe let him start Tweeting again too.

  27. The debate is in four days – is this how he is going to sound? Or will they give him the strong stuff?

  28. Not holding my breath. Until CNN or Fox says “what if Kamala Harris had said this?? – this man is not well and should not be running for president” it’s preaching to the choir

  29. The damn is unbreakable. MAGA likes the racism. They don’t care about any of this stuff. MAGA wants someone to inflict pain onto people with different color skin and college educated people. Basically anyone different from them.

  30. I love the part where he tries to remind himself to keep on track and then immediately loses the plot again.

  31. If Joe had given a speech like that the NYT would have been screaming that Joe is ready for the nursing home.

  32. It’s almost like he has no idea what he’s doing and is grossly unqualified

  34. “What you’ve just said is one of the most insanely idiotic things I have ever heard. At no point in your rambling, incoherent response were you even close to anything that could be considered a rational thought. Everyone in this room is now dumber for having listened to it. I award you no points, and may God have mercy on your soul.”

    *Billy Madison 1995

    I’d say it really applies here.

  35. > Max Kennerly, a lawyer and legal commentator, wrote on X on Thursday, alongside a video posted by the Harris campaign of Trump’s comments. “Don’t clean him up, don’t reinterpret what he says in a more sensible way, don’t secretly editorialize. Just quote him. Let the voters see how this man’s mind **doesn’t** work.”

    Finally, a reasonable take on trump’s mind.

  36. Cant believe people actually clapped for him after that disaster..

  37. Not my analysis, and sorry, I didn’t get the source of the analysis, but there was a poison pill buried within the gibberish. “The reported Ivanka Trump-Marco Rubio plan would have parents with newborns or adopted babies tap their Social Security benefits early to ‘pay’ for their leave time, forcing them to delay later retirement plans and reduce their future retirement benefits. This premature draining of funds from Social Security would also add fuel to the fire of those who never believed in Social Security, have worked assiduously to undermine public support of the system, and regularly seek to ‘reform’ it by cutting benefits and raising the retirement age.” https://www.nelp.org/ivanka-rubio-paid-leave-plan-leaves-working-families-behind-undermines-retirement-plans-weakens-social-security/

  38. I seriously seriously seriously hope there is a tiny subset of MAGA that although still racist, child care is a serious enough issue to begrudgingly vote Harris.

    I’m lucky enough to have my parents watch my kids 2-5 days a week, daycare the rest of the week is a second mortgage.

  39. This has been his most obvious weakness since the beginning. If the Democrats can’t figure out how to capitalize on it, then shame on them. Forcing Trump to answer “how” is his Achilles heel in a debate. Is literally that simple.

  40. You can hear him try and right his train if thought a few times. At one point he says he needs to stick to child care, to remind himself but it doesn’t work. Then he also says that we will start helping other countries and realizes “oh shit, my people fucking hate helping others” and circles back around to America 1st.

    It was literal stream of consciousness bullshit. Not even coming close to an answer *because he has never considered doing anything about child care*. He doesn’t care about it because it doesn’t affect him at all.

  41. I hope the Goldman Sachs and Wall Street Journal endorsements of her economic policies might jolt a few more.

  42. Yes yes.. Speak more Trump and Vance.

    My dad has a saying (of which i know is a common dadism).

    Better to be silent and thought a fool than to speak and remove all doubt.

  44. Yes this will help them woo democrats. MAGA could care less how bad he messes up. Means nothing.

  45. Comments? These weren’t just ‘comments’—like he just happened to be speaking on the topic—this was a *response* He was asked a direct, clear, pointed question:

    >**what *specific* piece of legislation will you advance?**

    Not “share your thoughts on childcare” or “do you think childcare is important” or even “what are your childcare policy ideas” the question was **name a piece of legislation**

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