President Donald Trump’s willful disconnection from reality seems rather embarrassing. CBS has released a clip from an interview that Trump did with journalist Lesley Stahl for 60 Minutes, and in the clip, Trump makes brazenly ridiculous claims about the past status of the economy and the spread of the Coronavirus. Stahl actually confronts Trump over one of these issues; after he insists that his administration had created the greatest economy in the history of the United States prior to the onset of the Coronavirus pandemic, Stahl says, “You know that’s not true.” Trump was persistent in his willful self-delusion, however.
Trump has feverishly complained about Stahl’s interview in the time since its taping. Apparently, he even suddenly stormed out of it prior to its natural end, and he did not show up for a subsequently planned joint interview alongside Vice President Mike Pence. Trump claimed that his original solo interview with Stahl was “terrible Electoral Intrusion,” as if he imagines that there’s some media conspiracy to undercut his campaign via… asking him questions.
…Everyone should compare this terrible Electoral Intrusion with the recent interviews of Sleepy Joe Biden!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 20, 2020
In the 60 Minutes clip, Stahl asks:
‘Let me ask you what you think the biggest domestic priority is for you right now or next year.’
Trump replies:
‘Ultimately, let me — and I’ll tell you, it was happening. We created the biggest economy in the history of our country, and the other side was coming in — ‘
It’s at that point when Stahl cut in and insisted, “You know that’s not true.” Trump retorted:
‘It is totally true. Virtually every number was the best. We had the best economy ever, and what was happening was things were coming together… The priority now is to get back to normal, get back to where we were, to have the economy rage and be great with jobs and everybody be happy, and that’s where we’re headed.’
That statement is laughably vague. “Things were coming together”? What things, exactly? Subsequently, he also complained that China should “never have allowed” the Coronavirus “to get out of” their country. Scapegoating China for the pandemic as if the Trump administration hasn’t majorly failed in responding to the crisis is ridiculous.
Watch Trump’s comments below:
WATCH: President Trump was asked by @LesleyRStahl about his priorities — before cutting his interview short.@60Minutes has a history of asking tough questions of presidential candidates during the run-up to the election.
More Sunday on @CBS. pic.twitter.com/ZWxP1B7GvO
— CBS This Morning (@CBSThisMorning) October 22, 2020
His claim that the U.S. had the greatest economy in history prior to the pandemic definitely doesn’t seem true, at all.
Sure, the value of the stock market may have been high, but what about median income levels for working-class Americans? What about financial security for millions of Americans who didn’t have enough money to have any investments in the stock market to begin with? What about food and healthcare security for these lower-income Americans? The federal minimum wage has been at $7.25 since 2009, and many states have their minimum wage level at the federally set level. So for many minimum wage workers and those near their income levels — the economy seems about the same as it was about a decade ago, in the immediate wake of the Great Recession.
As he boasts about stocks, Trump is reminded by Stephanopoulos that only half the jobs are back.
Trump says, "George: stocks are owned by everybody."
Just over half of Americans own stock, according to 2020 polls.
— Daniel Dale (@ddale8) September 16, 2020
Trump revealed his obsession with higher-income levels during a recent ABC town hall appearance, when he claimed — totally wrongly — that “stocks are owned by everybody.” His perception of the world hinges on this kind of high-income-obsessed nonsense.
Trump: "George, stocks are owned by everybody."
That is not true.
— Kyle Griffin (@kylegriffin1) September 16, 2020