Former President Donald Trump on Thursday was asked how he would make child care more affordable if he is elected in November. Trump responded with an incoherent rant about tariffs, tax cuts, and a rollback of federal regulations.
“Can you commit to making childcare affordable? And if so what specific piece of legislation will you advance?” Reshma Saujani, the CEO of Girls Who Code, asked the Republican presidential nominee.
Trump answered by saying he “would do that,” and then proceeded to highlight the work of his daughter Ivanka and Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., who worked on a paid family leave plan during his administration. Despite Saujani’s question about lightening the hardships working parents, especially women, face to stay in the workforce, Trump maintained that his economic proposals would act as a catch-all solution even though numerous economic experts say that Trump’s economic policies will actually weaken the economy, increase inflation, and increase prices of goods and services for the average American.
“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 answered before he started to talk about economic numbers.
Q: What specific legislation will you commit to to make child care affordable?
— Kamala HQ (@KamalaHQ) September 5, 2024
Trump: Well, I would do that and we're sitting down, you know, I was, somebody, we had Marco Rubio and my daughter, Ivanka… But I think when you talk about the kind of numbers that I'm talking about… pic.twitter.com/v8gqLUHS2v
“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’ll be taking in. We’re going to make this into an incredible country that can afford to take care of its people,” Trump said, still not answering the question.
Vice President Kamala Harris' campaign called out the former president's rambling answer.
“Billionaire-bought Donald Trump’s ‘plan’ for making child care more affordable is to impose a $3,900 tax hike on middle class families,” Harris campaign spokesperson Joseph Costello said in a statement. “The American people deserve a President who will actually cut costs for them, like Vice President Harris’ plan to bring back a $3,600 Child Tax Credit for working families and an expanded $6,000 tax cut for families with newborn children.”
"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," deputy press secretary Andrew Bates said, according to Mediaite.
Others also remained sufficiently unimpressed with the former president’s response.
“My job is to analyze policy,” CNN commentator and Washington Post columnist Catherine Rampell posted on X. “I can't even find a complete sentence in this.”
“Calling Trump's remarks at the NY Economics Club incoherent gibberish is not a biased attack. It is a completely rational observation,” senior business analyst, Stephanie Ruhle posted on X. “He did not speak in coherent or complete sentences. And when he did, proposals like (tarriffs - childcare) do not make sense.”
