Trump’s ‘I love the inflation’ statement raises questions about his mental state
President Donald Trump’s latest gaffe Wednesday in which he said he loves inflation is more than an act of political self-harm. It’s the kind of error that should once again raise questions about his soundness of mind.
A reporter at the White House asked Trump whether he was concerned about Wednesday morning’s Bureau of Labor Statistics report that inflation hit 4.2% in May, a three-year high.
Trump replied:
No, I love it. The numbers were great. You know what I really love? I love the inflation. You know why? Because as soon as this war is over, you know, I can say it now, something you didn’t know, do you know, we’ve been taking out millions of barrels of oil. Nobody knows it, you know. Who doesn’t know about it? Iran, until right now. We took out the other night 22 ships late at night with no lights because they don’t have any radar, because we blasted the crap out of it.
It was a jaw-dropping response.
It’s beyond baffling that Trump would announce that he’s fond of an economic phenomenon that hurts working people and has been leading to losses for incumbent parties across the democratized world. People struggling to put food on the table and make rent are suffering in a tangible way from skyrocketing energy costs, and their corrupt billionaire president is cavalierly describing inflation as a positive. Trump is once again writing Democrats’ midterm attack ads for them.
When Trump gets midway through the comment, one might wonder if he’s speaking in an ironic tone and winding up to offer a counterintuitive explanation for why Americans should see inflation as tolerable. But instead, he pivots to a non sequitur about the U.S. allegedly secretly smuggling barrels of oil from somewhere unspecified — Iran? The Strait of Hormuz?
Other officials in his government appear to have no clue what he meant. As MS NOW reported, “Energy Secretary Chris Wright, who was simultaneously testifying before the House Committee on Science, Space, and Technology, told lawmakers that he did not know of any such operation.”
Zeeshan Aleem is a writer and editor for MS NOW. He primarily writes about politics and foreign policy.
