‘What the Hell’: White House Slams Trump’s Incoherent Child Care Response
Former President Donald Trump, a father of five, was asked on Thursday what he would do to lower the cost of child care should he win in November — and his answer was baffling.
Following a speech at the Economic Club of New York, Trump was asked what specific legislation he would pursue to help lower the cost of child care for working parents. His response was a lengthy, utterly incoherent word salad that seemed to suggest widespread tariffs would solve the problem.
“It’s a very important issue. But I think when you talk about the kind of numbers that I’m talking about, that, because, look, child care is child care. It’s something you know you have to have it, in this country you have to have it,” Trump said.
The former president then rambled about taxes on foreign countries. “But when you talk about those numbers compared to the type of numbers 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,” he added.
Donald Trump’s answer on how he will make childcare more affordable: pic.twitter.com/Hwu7R5aIt6
— Acyn (@Acyn) September 5, 2024
Both the White House and Vice President Kamala Harris’ campaign mocked the response from Trump.
“If you have any idea what the hell that answer means, you’re a better detective than I am, because these tariffs that he wants to apply across the board would amount to a $4,000 tax increase on working families,” White House Senior Deputy Press Secretary Andrew Bates told MSNBC on Friday.
The Harris campaign tweeted a clip of the moment from their official X account.
Rising costs of child care and child rearing have become a flagship issue for the Harris campaign. The vice president has promised the return of the expanded child tax credit, and a $6,000 tax credit for the parents of newborn children.
By contrast, the Republican ticket has struggled to produce an answer on child rearing and reproduction that doesn’t sound like it was ripped from a Men’s Rights Activism forum.
On Wednesday, Trump’s vice presidential candidate J.D. Vance was asked how he would lower the cost of childcare during a Turning Point USA event. He suggested getting family to help, as if struggling Americans haven’t already been doing this to the extent that they are able.
“I think one of the things that we can do is make it easier for families to choose whatever model they want, right? So one of the ways that you might be able to relieve a little bit of pressure on people who are paying so much for day care is … maybe grandma and grandpa [want] to help out a little bit more, or maybe there’s an aunt or uncle that wants to help out a little bit more. If that happens, you relieve some of the pressure on all the resources that we’re spending on day care,” Vance responded.
Kirk: What can we do about lowering the cost of daycare? pic.twitter.com/YIS68cXKw4
— Acyn (@Acyn) September 5, 2024
The response echoed past remarks from Vance where he agreed that the “whole purpose” of post-menopausal women is to help other women raise their children.
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