Dem
51
GOP
49
Earlier this week, during an interview on CNBC, Donald Trump said he was open to cutting Social Security. This is not something that any American politician, much less one running for president, should ever say. It is like saying you are open to making it legal to kick puppies.
So, there was blowback, and lots of it. This was entirely predictable, based on both old and new political history. For example, Trump might have taken note of what happened to Sen. Rick Scott (R-FL) a couple of years ago when HE hinted at the mere possibility of taking a hatchet to Social Security. Since then, Scott has been forced to hide in the shadows, and there's a chance he might even lose his U.S. Senate seat this year.
Anyhow, Trump does not actually admit errors or faults, and he certainly doesn't apologize. Nonetheless, he knows he blew it. So, the former president did an interview with Breitbart yesterday in which he emphasized that he would never, ever cut Social Security. His exact words: "I will never do anything that will jeopardize or hurt Social Security or Medicare. We'll have to do it elsewhere. But we're not going to do anything to hurt them."
Despite Trump's "apology," we are left with two questions. First, how could he make such a stupid mistake in the first place? He's a veteran politician at this point, and while everyone misspeaks on occasion, "Thou shalt not threaten Social Security and Medicare" is the First Commandment of American politics. He really might be slipping, mentally.
The second question is: Why Breitbart? That site is in serious decline, with readership only a fraction of what it was back in 2016, or even 2020. If Trump wants to reach "his people," the correct thing to do is to get on Sean Hannity's show and backtrack there. This is a pretty important mess that needs to be cleaned up, and the cleaning should be as thorough as is possible. Maybe the former president really is on the outs with Fox, and is determined to give the important stories to their competitors. Although, even then, why not OAN or Newsmax? Very strange. (Z)