Ah, yes. That thing called the economy. I’ve heard of it.
He continued : “We’re doing this as an intellectual speech.”
Good. Many Republicans have encouraged Trump to stop babbling and hurling insults and steer his campaign onto some kind of coherent message.
Trump's economic speech went off the rails predictably fast
Republican presidential nominee and former U.S. President Donald Trump applauds during a campaign event in Asheville, North Carolina, U.S. August 14, 2024. REUTERS/Jonathan Drake Jonathan Drake, REUTERS
"We have a lot of important subjects because our country has become a third-world nation, we literally are a third-world nation. We’re a banana republic in so many ways, and we’re not going to let that happen because we’re starting a free fall.”
Hoo boy. Trump spends less time on track than a decommissioned train car. And so it was that his highly intellectual speech on a thing called the economy became, predictably, a dumb speech on a bunch of stuff that has nothing to do with the economy.
Trump proves again in North Carolina that insults are all he has
“For nearly four years Kamala has crackled as the American economy has burned,” Trump said , presumably mispronouncing “cackled,” because he struggles with words.
“What happened to her laugh? I haven’t heard that laugh in about a week. That’s why they keep her off the stage, that’s why she has disappeared.”
Vice President and Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris gestures during a campaign rally at the Thomas and Mack Center, University of Nevada in Las Vegas, Nevada, on August 10, 2024. RONDA CHURCHILL, AFP via Getty Images
Republican presidential nominee and former U.S. President Donald Trump attends a campaign rally in Bozeman, Montana, U.S., August 9, 2024. Jim Urquhart, REUTERS
OK, first off, nobody thinks Trump has anything to do with the stock market being up. And then to think last week’s drop – from which the market quickly recovered – happened due to a brief belief that Harris might win the election? That makes me wonder if Trump can even spell “economy.”
An economic speech about ... rape?
Of course, no intellectual presidential campaign speech on the economy is complete without an extended riff on immigrants and rape , so Trump said: “Rape and murder, rape and beatings, rape and something else, and sometimes just immediate killing. These people are brutal. These are people that came out of the toughest jails anywhere in the world from all over the world, and we can’t take them.”
The economy is simply not the disaster Trump and the GOP claim
And that gets to the heart of one of Trump’s biggest problems. The economy is doing reasonably well. Unemployment is low, the stock market has been breaking records and inflation continues to drop.
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So, calling America a third-world country while taking childish swipes at the vice president’s laugh and fearmongering about an immigrant crime wave that doesn’t exist? That’s not going to do much to swing voters who have been swinging in Harris’ direction since she took over the top of the Democratic ticket less than a month ago.
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