# Is Trump confused? **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Tags:** trump\ **Created:** [January 24, 2024, 1:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-trump-confused/996589 "2024-01-24T13:53:03Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 96
**Author:** ![crowmanyclouds](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crowmanyclouds/32/19884_2.png) [@crowmanyclouds](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/crowmanyclouds)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2024, 8:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-trump-confused/996589/1934 "2024-09-05T20:33:53Z")
J D Vance on child care, “A lot of grandparents, some aunts, some of these uncles, whatever makes sense…” ---
**Author:** ![Mollie\_Magill](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mollie_magill/32/20882_2.png) [@Mollie\_Magill](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mollie_Magill)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2024, 8:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-trump-confused/996589/1935 "2024-09-05T20:53:16Z")
The unstated answer was that women should be in the workforce. ---
**Author:** ![wguy123](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wguy123/32/3161_2.png) [@wguy123](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wguy123)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2024, 8:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-trump-confused/996589/1936 "2024-09-05T20:54:28Z")
> [@crowmanyclouds](#): > > some aunts He wanted to say “the childless cat ladies in your family” but decided to resist that urge. ---
**Author:** ![crowmanyclouds](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crowmanyclouds/32/19884_2.png) [@crowmanyclouds](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/crowmanyclouds)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2024, 8:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-trump-confused/996589/1937 "2024-09-05T20:57:19Z")
Ya know… If I hadn’t only been thinking about the donut incident I might have had the comedy chops to make the cat lady call-back, but no. At least I set up the joke like a decent straight man should! ---
**Author:** ![Railer13](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/railer13/32/9742_2.png) [@Railer13](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Railer13)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2024, 10:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-trump-confused/996589/1938 "2024-09-05T22:08:39Z")
> [@Mollie\_Magill](#): > > The unstated answer was that women should be in the workforce. Yeah, it definitely wasn’t “We need to raise wages so every Mother in this country can stay home with her children, should she choose to do so.” ---
**Author:** ![Mollie\_Magill](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mollie_magill/32/20882_2.png) [@Mollie\_Magill](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mollie_Magill)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2024, 10:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-trump-confused/996589/1939 "2024-09-05T22:15:22Z")
> [@Mollie\_Magill](#): > > The unstated answer was that women should be in the workforce. I meant to say he was implying the women should NOT be in the workforce. ---
**Author:** ![Railer13](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/railer13/32/9742_2.png) [@Railer13](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Railer13)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2024, 10:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-trump-confused/996589/1940 "2024-09-05T22:17:05Z")
> [@Mollie\_Magill](#): > > meant to say he was implying the women should NOT be in the workforce How so? When he was stating that grandma should do the babysitting? Maybe I missed his implication. ---
**Author:** ![Buck\_Godot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/buck_godot/32/6573_2.png) [@Buck\_Godot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Buck_Godot)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2024, 10:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-trump-confused/996589/1941 "2024-09-05T22:38:14Z")
nevermind, already discussed. ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2024, 10:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-trump-confused/996589/1942 "2024-09-05T22:46:36Z")
> "Well, I would do that, and we’re sitting down, and I was, somebody, we had Senator Marco Rubio, and my daughter Ivanka was so, uh, 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, look, child care is child care is. 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 gonna stop them from doing business with us, but they’ll have a very substantial tax when they send product into our country. Uh, those numbers are so much bigger than any numbers that we’re talking about, including child care, that it’s going to take care. We’re gonna have - I, I look forward to having no deficits within a fairly short period of time, coupled with, uh, 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, uh, that I just told you about. We’re gonna be taking in trillions of dollars, and as much as child care, uh, 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, 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. Thank you. Very good question. Thank you." ---
**Author:** ![Dr\_Paprika](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr_paprika/32/3042_2.png) [@Dr\_Paprika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr_Paprika)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2024, 11:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-trump-confused/996589/1943 "2024-09-05T23:03:05Z")
Did any mainstream paper quote this response, or was it summarized as “Trump discussed the issue of social programs”? ---
**Author:** ![Steve\_MB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/steve_mb/32/5339_2.png) [@Steve\_MB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Steve_MB)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2024, 12:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-trump-confused/996589/1944 "2024-09-06T00:29:12Z")
> [@Smapti](#): > > anyone in New Hampshire who votes for Biden and Camel-la ought to have their head examined And we are going to stay right here in orbit around Gamma Hydra II until we get this straightened out! ---
**Author:** ![Moriarty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/moriarty/32/49_2.png) [@Moriarty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moriarty)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2024, 1:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-trump-confused/996589/1945 "2024-09-06T01:12:14Z")
That’s the kind of Trumpian answer that could get people talking at the debates. ETA: my favorite comment to the Medias Touch post of this Trump answer > [@](#): > > I asked Chatgpt if they would hire someone who gave this answer. 😂😂 > > “Based on this answer, I would have concerns about hiring this person. The response is notably disorganized and lacks clarity, making it difficult to understand their proposed approach to lowering child care costs. Effective communication and the ability to provide clear, actionable plans are crucial qualities for most roles. This answer might suggest difficulties in articulating and implementing ideas effectively, which could be a red flag depending on the job requirements.” ---
**Author:** ![DWMarch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dwmarch/32/1010_2.png) [@DWMarch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DWMarch)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2024, 1:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-trump-confused/996589/1946 "2024-09-06T01:20:39Z")
Don’t ask ChatGPT if (based on Trump’s most recent word salad) we should give this person the nuclear codes because I’m pretty sure that’s the moment when Skynet becomes self aware and decides that we are the threat. ---
**Author:** ![JKellyMap](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jkellymap/32/15880_2.png) [@JKellyMap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JKellyMap)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2024, 1:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-trump-confused/996589/1947 "2024-09-06T01:23:04Z")
Ha! Deep. ---
**Author:** ![Irishman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/b487fb/32.png) [@Irishman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Irishman)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2024, 1:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-trump-confused/996589/1948 "2024-09-06T01:46:18Z")
> [@dasmoocher](#): > > Try making sense of Trump’s answer to a childcare question from his speech today at the Economic Club in New York: Basically, he is conflating the cost of childcare to _individual families_ with the supposed money that will be raised for _the country_ by tariffs on imports that somehow he’ll get the national debt paid down. (Headscratch) Uh, what? It goes on, but doesn’t make any more sense. Then Vance is asked a similar question, and his answer is to encourage more options like family members, and also support education so more people can get qualified to do childcare. I guess that’s sort of a free market answer. If more people are qualified, more can get in the business so then there will be greater access and more competition, which should drive down costs. Except he’s too dumb to even say it that way, so instead he’s just telling people to rely on their grandmas and grandpas, or something. > [@Railer13](#): > > How so? When he was stating that grandma should do the babysitting? > > Maybe I missed his implication. He starts his remark by saying make it easier for families to choose whatever model they want. The obvious counter model to “both parents working” (because it’s Vance, so that’s his assumed family structure) is “someone stays home”. And guess who that someone should be? “Oh wait, I better not say that, uh, grandma and grandpa.” He practically stutters over m-m-m before getting to grandma. ---
**Author:** ![Railer13](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/railer13/32/9742_2.png) [@Railer13](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Railer13)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2024, 1:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-trump-confused/996589/1949 "2024-09-06T01:52:41Z")
> [@Irishman](#): > > Basically, he is conflating the cost of childcare to _individual families_ with the supposed money that will be raised for _the country_ by tariffs on imports that somehow he’ll get the national debt paid down. Yeah, he said that childcare money is small compared to those other numbers, whatever that means. ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2024, 1:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-trump-confused/996589/1950 "2024-09-06T01:54:51Z")
> [@Railer13](#): > > Yeah, he said that childcare money is small compared to those other numbers, whatever that means It felt to me like what he didn’t really have an answer or a plan for affordable child care, but he did want to talk about tariffs, so that’s what he spun his answer into (though he vaguely tried to pivot back to the actual question once or twice). ---
**Author:** ![Kolak\_of\_Twilo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kolak_of_twilo/32/73_2.png) [@Kolak\_of\_Twilo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kolak_of_Twilo)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2024, 2:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-trump-confused/996589/1951 "2024-09-06T02:13:15Z")
And heaped praise on former President Wm. McKinley. Pretty sure that hasn’t been done by a candidate in a long, long while. (On a side note, McKinley was in office at an interesting point in our history and took actions that were very consequential to the nation before he was assassinated in 1901. He also had some crazy eyebrows.) ---
**Author:** ![wguy123](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wguy123/32/3161_2.png) [@wguy123](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wguy123)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2024, 2:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-trump-confused/996589/1952 "2024-09-06T02:22:52Z")
> [@kenobi\_65](#): > > It felt to me like what he didn’t really have an answer or a plan for affordable child care, but he did want to talk about tariffs, so that’s what he spun his answer into (though he vaguely tried to pivot back to the actual question once or twice). They didn’t give him time to complete his infamous “weave” that English professors praise. If they would’ve given him more time, it would’ve come together at the end and we’d all be rejoicing at the beauty of his brilliant rhetoric. ---
**Author:** ![Horatius](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/horatius/32/3572_2.png) [@Horatius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatius)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2024, 7:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-trump-confused/996589/1953 "2024-09-06T07:23:42Z")
> [@Railer13](#): > > Yeah, he said that childcare money is small compared to those other numbers, whatever that means. My impression was, he wanted to say, “We’ll bring in so much tax revenue that paying for child care will be a drop in the bucket compared to our revenues!” Of course, he didn’t add the obvious Republican follow-up, “…but of course, we won’t actually spend that money, you fucking communist!” [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-trump-confused/996589.md?page=95) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-trump-confused/996589.md?page=97)