In his decade in national politics, Donald Trump has transformed the meaning of the political gaffe. As a campaigner and as president, he has demonstrated an uncanny ability to bulldoze over controversies stemming from embarrassing, tone deaf or outright offensive remarks. But it’s genuinely hard to see how a tin-eared remark he made Tuesday won’t haunt him.

Before leaving for his trip to China, Trump took questions from the press on the White House lawn. About 10 minutes into his appearance, a reporter asked, “When you’re negotiating with Iran, Mr. President, to what extent are Americans’ financial situations motivating you to make a deal?”

Without hesitation, Trump replied, “Not even a little bit.”

He continued: “The only thing that matters when I’m talking about Iran — they can’t have a nuclear weapon. I don’t think about Americans’ financial situation. I don’t think about anybody. I think about one thing: We cannot let Iran have a nuclear weapon. That’s all.” 

I don’t think about Americans’ financial situation. I don’t think about anybody. 

Democrats have just received the ideal video clip for midterm messaging. 

Trump’s favored escape hatch — passing off an off-color or foolish remark as a joke — is not available here. In clips of his remarks, which immediately spread like wildfire on social media, Trump speaks emphatically, and his tone makes it clear that he’s speaking with clear and serious intention.

Even during an era in which Trump has raised the bar for impropriety and scandal unthinkably high, there’s a reason this blunder has the juice in a way most of Trump’s remarks don’t: He has committed a gigantic Kinsley gaffe. That’s a reference to former New Republic editor Michael Kinsley’s definition of a gaffe as “when a politician tells the truth — some obvious truth he isn’t supposed to say.” 

Zeeshan Aleem

Zeeshan Aleem is a writer and editor for MS NOW. He primarily writes about politics and foreign policy.