MSNBC’s Morning Joe crew mocked former President Donald Trump’s for falling flat in a “rambling” and “incoherent” answer on Thursday when asked what “specific legislation” he wanted to use to reduce the cost of childcare for working families.
Trump was appearing before the Economic Club of New York when presented with the question, which he failed to answer directly in a minute-long response to what he called a “very important issue.” Dodging the specifics, the Republican nominee seemed to suggest that his plan to impose tariffs of at least 10 percent on foreign nations would mean that childcare costs would no longer be a concern.
Running back to the clip in full on Friday’s Morning Joe, host Joe Scarborough mused that the answer was like a “sixth-grade book report presentation.”
“Little Donny obviously did not read his,” he added.
Scarborough continued: “It sounded like a middle school book report where he didn’t read the book. No idea what he is talking about. He’s rambling incoherently. By the way, I’ve just got to say, too, because it’s a pet peeve: the man who promised to pay down the debt and balance the budget in 2016 raised it more than any president in the history of this republic. Now, he’s going: ‘Oh, because of my high tariffs, because of my high taxes on working-class Americans, my high taxes on middle class Americans, we’re going to balance the budget quickly, and we’re going to make so much money, I don’t even have to talk about child care.’”
Co-host Willie Geist weighed in on the book presentation pun: “Yeah, that’s the one where you go, you know what? I actually didn’t read the book. May I present on Monday? Can I have the weekend? Even if you knock me down a grade, because this is going to be embarrassing.”
Geist went on to knock the answer as a typically Trump “word salad.” He reflected that the former president believed “tariffs are apparently the foundation for how he’s going to pay for everything, including child care” and that even “conservative” economists “hate the idea” – pointing to a Goldman Sachs report from Wednesday condemning the approach.
“He has no idea what he’s talking about when it comes to policy,” Geist added. “You wonder at what point — we saw conservatives, Joe, and some Republicans rolling their eyes and saying, what is he talking about here? If you push even a little bit on policy, you find out he’s an inch deep.”
Scarborough then invited comment from Washington Post associate editor and regular contributor Eugene Robinson, who laughed off the “absurd” answer as Trump’s War And Peace – referencing the epic and lengthy literary work of Russian author Leo Tolstoy.
Robinson asked: “I mean, how did those people who were listening to him not just, like, gag or laugh? How do they keep a straight face listening to that ridiculous nonsense? I have no idea.”
Journalist Katty Kay conveyed her disbelief at the clip: “Yeah, I was wondering the same thing when that woman — when he kept looking back at the woman who asked the question. I just wanted to zoom in on her face and see what she was actually thinking. If I was the mother of young children, I wouldn’t be reassured by those child care policies.”
Referring to footage of Trump running mate Senator JD Vance’s (R-OH) attempt to answer the question earlier in the week, in which he suggested families step in to help with child care as a cost reducing measure, she added: “Maybe JD Vance’s policy, frankly, of having aunts, uncles, and grandparents, as if they didn’t have other things to do, looking after your children, that seems to be the closest there is to a child care policy.”
Watch above on MSNBC.
Have a tip for us? tips@mediaite.com
Most Popular
Comments / 0