For those who keep an eye on Donald Trump’s rhetoric, much of last night’s ridiculous town hall event seemed awfully familiar. The former president lied about his election defeat, but he’d done that before. He blamed former Vice President Mike Pence for being in danger on Jan. 6, but he’d done that before. He voiced support for pardoning Jan. 6 rioters, he’d done that before.
The Republican praised Russia’s Vladimir Putin, said deeply offensive things about sexual assault, avoided direct answers on abortion policy, and peddled an avalanche of brazen lies. But again, none of this was unusual for Trump.
But his comments about default were new. CNBC reported:
Former President Donald Trump on Wednesday urged Republican lawmakers to let the United States default on its debt if Democrats don’t agree to spending cuts. Former President Donald Trump on Wednesday urged Republican lawmakers to let the United States default on its debt if Democrats don’t agree to spending cuts. “I say to the Republicans out there — congressmen, senators — if they don’t give you massive cuts, you’re going to have to do a default,” said Trump, who is again running for president.
The former president went on to predict that Democrats “will absolutely cave” because they don’t want an economic catastrophe. Left unsaid is why Republicans don’t also want to avoid an economic catastrophe.
When CNN’s Kaitlan Collins pressed Trump to elaborate, he added, “Well, you might as well do it now because you’ll do it later, because we have to save this country.”
I honestly don’t know what that means.
All of this stood out for a couple of reasons. First, to date, as congressional Republicans have pushed the nation closer to the edge, Trump has said very little about his party’s radical tactics. Even as GOP leaders moved forward with their legislative ransom note, the former president was largely detached from the process and didn’t do anything to help get the bill…
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