Magnetism has provided President Trump with another opportunity to cause jaws to drop, heads to shake, and speculation about his mental faculties (we’ll have a serious discussion about that in a little bit).
A few days ago, during an Oval Office press conference, CNN’s Kaitlan Collins asked him about Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Green’s suggestion that he put more focus on domestic policy. His answer was an all-too-common digression into nonsense. He eventually got around to talking about China.
The transcript of his remarks was published by the internet side Mediaite.
“China was going to hit us with rare-earth. Now, everybody says, ‘Oh, what does that mean?’
“Magnets. If China refused to give magnets, ’cause they have a monopoly on magnets ’cause they’re allowed to happen over a 32-year period, there wouldn’t be a car made in the entire world. There wouldn’t be a radio. There wouldn’t be a television. There wouldn’t be internet. There wouldn’t be anything because magnets are such a part.
“Now, nobody knows what magnets are. And not overly sophisticated, but to build magnet system would take two years. So if I weren’t able to say to China, “Look, if you’re gonna do that to us, we’re gonna charge you a 158% tariff.” It was 100% on top of 58%. And China called up immediately and, “Listen, we will make peace.” And we made peace. We made a great deal. We made an unbelievable deal. China’s paying tariffs to the United States. Not the United States paying tariffs to China, which has always been the way it was. Nobody can believe these deals.”
Did he just call himself a “nobody?” Or did he admit he’s ignorant? Or both?
I’ve known what magnets are from my youngest years when I played with a couple of little scotty dogs, one black and one white, who were attracted to each other by magnetism. We don’t know if he had a similar toy although we do know he doesn’t have a pet—dog, cat, hamster, or what seems appropriate—a gold fish. He has indicated, however, that he thinks he has a certain animal magnetism.
A few days ago he came up with an astounding scientific theory.
Somehow, it appears, Trump knows how to make magnets quit working, information that might earn a Nobel Price in Physics to make for the peace prize he is unlikely to get. He told a campaign rally in Iowa last year, “Now all I know about magnets is this, give me a glass of water, let me drop it on the magnets, that’s the end of the magnets.”
He got on the topic a few weeks ago in his dislocated ramblings with American soldiers in Japan. “You know, the new thing is magnets,” he advised them before wandering into even deeper into his mental swamp. “So instead of using hydraulic that can be hit by lightning and it’s fine. You take a little glass of water, you drop it on magnets, I don’t know what’s going to happen.”
We need some clarification, Mr. President, on a couple of things. First, you apparently do not know what will happen when you pour water on magnets. But would you please explain what you mean by “hydraulic that can be hit by lightning and it’s fine?”
We think we know what he thought he knew that he was talking about.
Somebody must have mentioned to him that the newest aircraft carrier, the Gerald R. Ford, uses an electromagnetic launch system and an advanced system of arresting gear for landing planes. The Navy has spent years perfecting the technology replacing the steam launch systems and the hydraulic cable-arresting system.
He has a tendency to seize on something he doesn’t understand and babble about it, unaware of the level of ignorance he unabashedly displays.
He does this so much that there is real concern that he is deteriorating mentally. An interview with a psychologist on a Times Radio podcast offers in-depth concern:
‘Trump will not make it to the end of this term compos mentis’ | Psychologist analyses Trump
Times Radio is part of the London Times and The London Sunday Times, two Murdoch-owned newspapers in the United Kingdom.
(Photo credit: Vermont Country Store)
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