President Donald Trump’s decision to double down on his claim that he doesn’t pay attention to Americans’ finances is an indication of how clueless and insulated he is from public opinion, The New York Times’ Maggie Haberman told CNN’s Kaitlan Collins on Friday’s edition of “The Source” — and how unaware he is that he is handing Democrats powerful ammunition to beat him.
“You’ve covered the president his entire political career,” said Collins. “He’s typically known for having good political instincts when it comes to voters and their sensitivities. What did you make of him doubling down on that comment tonight?”
The bottom line, argued Haberman, is that “he is very adamant that he can sell this war” in Iran, and he is confident he can get Americans to just be patient and ride out the economic pain — something many other presidents have done before.
The problem, she added, is that first, previous presidents who have tried this have generally failed, and second, “Americans are hurting” and gas price increases triggered by the shutdown of the Strait of Hormuz are pressuring everyone. Making matters worse, Trump “has seemed far less attuned to voters’ concerns lately and has been publicly talking more about himself and about what he perceives as injuries to himself and condemning coverage and insisting that it’s not real.”
All this may improve before November’s midterms, Haberman continued, but “it’s certainly not where it is today. And so far, this government doesn’t have a great record of being especially honest about where things are with the public,” especially since the war was supposed to last four to six weeks and is now well past the 60-day mark.
Collins pressed Haberman on why Trump is now less aware of what voters are thinking. “Why do you think that is?”
“I think there’s a variety of reasons,” said Haberman, including the fact that he is not running for re-election. But more importantly, she continued, “I think that his information ecosystem is much smaller … he is hearing from dissenting voices less than he used to. He is getting more of a sort of positive feedback flow to what he wants to hear, you know, depending on what he’s reading or seeing or what aides are sharing with him, the press crew that is covering him in the White House has changed.”
That setup, she added, “is in part by the White House’s design” — so Trump has no reason to course-correct now.
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