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Donald Trump promised an “intellectual” speech during his campaign stop in North Carolina on Wednesday. True to form, Trump broke his vow. Instead, what rallygoers got were some mind-numbingly misinformed ramblings from a septuagenarian nominee.
Over the last several weeks, Trump has lobbed all kinds of puerile insults at Vice President Kamala Harris, attempting to undermine her intelligence. During this very speech, which Trump claimed would focus on the economy, Trump claimed Harris is “not smart.” But it's hard to take such insults seriously when Trump himself fails to grasp some fairly basic concepts involving science and economics.
For example, he went on a rant arguing that Harris wants to “abolish oil, coal and natural gas,” and he suggested people who use wind power can't use their electronics when it’s not windy. In reality, the vice president is currently serving in an administration that has overseen a record boom in domestic oil production. And wind turbines are capable of storing power, so people who rely on them do not need to experience some "Wizard of Oz"-level wind storm to use their appliances and gadgets.
But this is not the scenario Trump envisioned in his speech:
Trump has long demonstrated his ignorance of and aversion to wind power and other climate-conscious policies. During another rant against wind power back in 2019, Trump admitted he “never understood wind.” Evidently, he still doesn’t. That this confusion comes from a man who’s called climate change a “hoax” and repeatedly claimed that the primary consequence of rising sea levels will be more beachfront property doesn’t inspire confidence in his capacity to confront the issues of climate change or encourage an expansion of renewable energy.
Trump also admitted on Wednesday that he doesn't know what “net zero” means, referring to “Kamala’s extreme high-cost energy policy known as net zero.” But then he took it further:
“They have no idea what it means, by the way. It’s net zero — what does that mean? Nobody knows. Ask her what it means. ‘We’re gonna go to a net zero policy.’ What does that mean? Uhh, I have no idea.”
In reality, many people — all over the world — are familiar with the term (but if you're not, “net zero” refers to the point at which the amount of greenhouse gas being released into the atmosphere is equal to the amount being removed from the atmosphere). In fact, there are even quick, eye-catching videos online that explain the concept in simple terms for people like Trump who don’t know what it means.
So much for science. On the economics front, Trump demonstrated his grasp of the subject by holding up a large package of Tic Tac mints next to a smaller one and saying, “This is inflation.” He didn’t elaborate. He went on to talk about how inflation, which has actually been slowing as of late, is destroying our country. How the existence of different size packages of mints connects to inflation was left for the audience to guess at.
Trump is the leader of an entire political party, with staff and advisers who could help fill in the gaps in his knowledge, to educate him and his followers. But Trump seems perfectly content to wallow in ignorance — and to pull the MAGA faithful into the misinformed muck with him.