O’Donnell Slams Trump Event with Economic Club of NY: ‘Stupid Rich People Are Willing to Corrupt American Democracy’

O’DONNELL: “Once Donald Trump droned through everything in his teleprompter, he took four and only four questions from prearranged questioners. First he got three softballs from rich men. He answered None of their questions. He spoke, but they weren’t answers. And then he finally got a real question, a serious question, a pointed question, a focused question about something apparently only one person in that room cared about: childcare. I’m going to show you that question, full question and full answer now. The question was by Reshma Saujani. I want to show it to you for a few reasons. One, it is a better questions than most questions I have heard asked at presidential debates. And two, Donald Trump is completely incapable of answering the question, the question about childcare. The only thing Donald Trump actually says about childcare in his answer is, and I’m quoting now, ‘Childcare is childcare.’ Those are his words. You will hear it. And here is the important part, the most important part: For that typical Trump incoherence, he got, from those rich people, a huge round of applause. Huge. Sounded like from everyone in the room. The stupidest rich people in New York. It is the applause at the end of that horrific jumble of words, jumble of words that is not an answer to anything. It is the applause that is the most disturbing sound in the room today. Far more disturbing than the sound of Donald Trump himself droning on on the teleprompter. Those stupid rich people clapping for the man who they watched to try to overthrow the result of the presidential election, clapping for a man who says childcare is childcare, or clapping because, in the middle of his droning speech, he promised them, all of them, another huge tax cut. Those stupid rich people are willing to corrupt American democracy for the stupidest person who has ever spoken to them. Here is the moment when stupid rich people in the room proved who they really are.”

[Clip starts]
SAUJANI: “President Trump, you talked about how the increase in the price of food, gas and rent is hurting families. But the real cost that is breaking the family’s backs and preventing women from participating in the workforce is childcare. Childcare is now more expensive than rent for working families and is costing the economy more than $122 billion a year, making it one of the most urgent economic issues that is facing our country. In fact, the cost of childcare is outpacing the cost of inflation. The majority of American families of young children spending more than 20% of their income on childcare. One thing that Democrats and Republicans have in common is that both parties talk a lot about what they are going to do to address the childcare crisis, but neither party has delivered meaningful change. If you win in November, can you commit to prioritizing legislation to make childcare affordable? And if so, what specific piece of legislation will you advance?”
Trump: “Well, I would do that. And we’re sitting down — you know, I was somebody — we had Senator Marco Rubio, and my daughter Ivanka was so impactful on that issue. It is a very important issue. But I think when you talk about the kind of numbers I’m talking about, that — because childcare is childcare, it couldn’t — you know, it’s something — you have to have it in this country. You have to have it. But when you talk about those numbers, compared to the kind of numbers I’m talking about, by taxing foreign nations at levels that they’re not used to, but they’ll get used to it very quickly. And it’s not that it stopped them from doing business with us, but there will be a substantial tax when they send product into our country. Those numbers are so much bigger than any numbers we’re talking about, including childcare, that it’ll take care of it. I look forward to having no deficits within a fairly short period of time. Coupled with the reductions that I told you about on waste and fraud and all of the other things that are going on in our country. Because I have to say, with childcare, I want to stay with childcare, but those numbers are small relative to the kind of economic numbers that I’m talking about, including growth. But growth also headed up by what the plan is that I just told you about. We’re going to be taking in trillions of dollars, and as much as childcare is talked about as being expensive, it’s relatively speaking, not very expensive compared to the kind of numbers we’ll be taking in. We’re going to make this into an incredible country that can afford to take care of its people, and then we’ll worry about the rest of the world. Let’s help other people. But we’re going to take care of our country first. This is about America first. It’s about make America great again. We have to do it. Because right now, we’re a failing nation. So we’ll take care of it. Thank you. Very good question. Thank you.”
(Applause)
[Clip ends]

O’DONNELL: “‘Childcare is childcare.’ That guy talking isn’t the problem. It’s those people clapping that have brought this country to this crisis point in its history as a democracy.”