Just six months into Donald Trump’s presidency, Bloomberg News made a terrific observation: the Republican had an unnerving habit of responding to every difficult question by saying the answer was “two weeks” away. Unfortunately, that habit never really went away.
On July 1, Trump was interviewed by the Fox Business Network, which asked the president whether he supports or opposes minimum-wage increases taking effect in several cities and states. Trump replied:
“I’m going to have a statement on minimum wage. I feel differently than lot of people on minimum wage, some people in my own party. But I will have a statement over the next two weeks on minimum wage.”
Asked about the nature of this upcoming statement, the president added, “Well, I think I’m going to have a very positive statement on minimum wage.”
Even at the time, the rhetoric was difficult to take seriously. The idea that Trump “feels differently” about minimum-wage increases was a deception he was eager to peddle as a candidate in 2016, apparently because he realized that minimum-wage increases are popular with the American mainstream.
It was, however, a sham — as evidenced by the Trump White House’s ongoing opposition to increasing the existing federal minimum.
But in the July 1 interview, the president didn’t want to come right out and take an unpopular position, so he falsely hinted that he’s secretly against the Republican Party’s line — even though he’s not — and vowed to clarify matters “in two weeks.” Well, it’s now been 17 days, and that mysterious “very positive statement on minimum wage” that Trump “thought” he’d have never materialized — which surprised no one, since he was obviously just trying to dodge the question. This has been a go-to move since Inauguration Day 2017, and it’ll continue until Trump leaves office.
Steve Benen is a producer for "The Rachel Maddow Show," the editor of MaddowBlog and an MS NOW political contributor. He's also the bestselling author of "Ministry of Truth: Democracy, Reality, and the Republicans' War on the Recent Past."
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