Donald Trump and the Debt Ceiling: Stupid or Evil?

The latest from America’s tweeter-in-chief:

And now the eternal question: stupid or evil? Does Trump really have no idea that tying it to the VA bill would have just meant the VA bill failed? Does he really have no idea that the main holdup is among Republicans? Does he really have no idea that a big reason for this holdup is that his own OMB director rallied the lunatic troops into action until he was finally reined in a few weeks ago?¹ Does he really have no idea that McConnell and Ryan haven’t even seriously discussed this with Democrats yet?

Or does he know all that stuff and he’s just lying about it? In this case, I’m going to vote for stupid. I think he truly has no idea how this stuff works.

¹Mulvaney was all-in on the proposition that Democrats should agree to huge spending cuts in return for raising the debt ceiling. This has now become a rallying cry among ultras in the House. It’s unclear why they think Dems should do anything but laugh at this.

BEFORE YOU CLICK AWAY!

Mother Jones was founded to do journalism differently. We stand for justice and democracy. We reject false equivalence. We go after stories others don’t. We’re a nonprofit newsroom, because the kind of truth-telling investigations we do doesn’t happen under corporate ownership.

And the essential ingredient that makes all this possible? Readers like you.

It’s reader support that enables Mother Jones to devote the time and resources to report the facts that are too difficult, expensive, or inconvenient for other news outlets to uncover. Please help with a donation today if you can—even a few bucks will make a real difference. A monthly gift would be incredible.

payment methods

BEFORE YOU CLICK AWAY!

Mother Jones was founded to do journalism differently. We stand for justice and democracy. We reject false equivalence. We go after stories others don’t. We’re a nonprofit newsroom, because the kind of truth-telling investigations we do doesn’t happen under corporate ownership.

And the essential ingredient that makes all this possible? Readers like you.

It’s reader support that enables Mother Jones to devote the time and resources to report the facts that are too difficult, expensive, or inconvenient for other news outlets to uncover. Please help with a donation today if you can—even a few bucks will make a real difference. A monthly gift would be incredible.

payment methods

We Recommend

Latest

Sign up for our free newsletter

Subscribe to the Mother Jones Daily to have our top stories delivered directly to your inbox.

Get our award-winning magazine

Save big on a full year of investigations, ideas, and insights.

Subscribe

Support our journalism

Help Mother Jones' reporters dig deep with a tax-deductible donation.

Donate