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As the 2024 presidential election entered its final stretch, Donald Trump has struggled to respond to Kamala Harris’ policy agenda, to the point that the former Republican president started making up ideas that the Democratic vice president never endorsed. In recent weeks, for example, the GOP candidate has said his opponent intends to ban cows and buildings with windows, which was obviously absurd.
But at his latest rally in North Carolina, Trump didn’t just target Harris’ proposals, he also attacked the nature of her ideas.
“Her plans,” the Republican said, “are the plans of a simpleton.”
To be sure, we’ve all heard the “every accusation is a confession” line when it comes to Trump, but the “her plans are the plans of a simpleton” argument is a rather extreme example of the phenomenon.
Exactly one month before the former president made the comment, Trump shared his idea on how to address street crime: If there were “one real rough, nasty” and “violent day” of police retaliation, he said, it would eradicate crime “immediately.”
It followed Trump suggesting that the country could combat shoplifting by having the police shoot shoplifters.
These were not isolated incidents. As I argued in my first book, Trump genuinely seems to believe that every challenge can and should be addressed through unexamined, overly simplified answers.
The immigration system is broken? Build an ineffective wall. Hurricanes are approaching American soil? Hit them with nuclear weapons. There are too many shooters killing children in schools? Put more guns in the hands of school officials who might shoot back. A virus is killing hundreds of thousands of Americans? Try injecting people with disinfectants.
Drugs are ravaging communities? If we simply executed drug dealers, the problem would go away. Russia is waging a brutal and unnecessary war in Ukraine? Slap some Chinese flags on U.S. fighter jets and point them in Moscow’s direction. There are social justice protesters outside the White House? Shoot them in the legs. There are drug cartels in Mexico? Launch missiles into our allied neighbor. There was a terrorist attack on U.S. soil? Impose “a total and complete shutdown of Muslims entering the United States until our country’s representatives can figure out what the hell is going on.”
In Trump’s mind, there’s no such thing as a complex challenge requiring a complex solution. Everything is easy. Every question has a simple answer, and every problem can be solved with a simple fix.
It’s post-policy politics at its most obvious: Trump doesn’t want to be bothered with analyses and relevant details, which only leave him confused. He wants to bark out bumper-sticker-style “proposals” that generate applause at rallies.
And yet, there was the Republican nominee, declaring that Harris’ plans “are the plans of a simpleton.”
It’s as if someone explained projection to Trump, and he thought it sounded fun.
This post updates our related earlier coverage.