Transcription
I legitimately could not think of a worse thing for Donald Trump to say out loud than this.
"What are your plans for the housing bill, Mr. President?"
"Are you..."
"I don't know. I think it's so unimportant by compared to by compared to the Save America Act. I think this the Save America Act is exactly what it says. It's saving America from crooked elections. And the housing bill is a bill that can get approved. They worked on it long and hard. It's very bipartisan. That means the Democrats like it. I think it's uh maybe even uh it's it's probably maybe more that way they're getting things that I wouldn't necessarily agree to. Nobody knows more than housing in the history of the presidency. Nobody nobody did well like me in housing. I made a lot I made a lot of money. I made a lot of money with housing. Uh but when I look at that bill, it's a bill. But when I look at the Save America Act, it's about Saving America and I'd like to have the Save America Act added. And that's probably not going to happen because we have four Republican senators, maybe five, that just won't vote for it. It's crazy. Somebody ought to Lisa Marowski from Alaska. Nobody's done more for Alaska than me. She's uh Trump deranged. What can I tell you?"
So, he's asked about the housing bill, his own party's housing bill, and his response is quote, "It is so unimportant," which is weird because I'm old enough to remember a certain someone saying a certain something about housing just a couple of years back when he needed your votes.
"We will open up new tracks of federal land for large-scale housing construction so that we can get housing on the market. Housing affordability crisis. It's too expensive to build the homes and they're building them and they cost a fortune."
But I guess now that he's got what he needed from voters, he doesn't need to pretend anymore. Now that he's president, the veil is lifted and he can show his true colors. That he doesn't need to pander to the rubes in his base for anything else.
Just a quick note here to say that if you appreciate my work, which is and always will be 100% free, a small ask is if you could please pre-order my new book, The Day After, which explores how Democrats must finally wield power if they're fortunate enough to get it back. I'll also be on tour in DC, New York, and LA mid July. You can grab tickets to the tour and you can pre-order the book at the same link which I'll put on the screen and in the post description of this video. You can also find them at brianttylercoen.com/book. Again, I'll never pay wall a single piece of content, but this is the one time that I'll ask for some support for a book that I really think meets this moment. Thanks so much.
Now, this follows his comments from last week when Donald Trump first decided to bail on the planned bill signing ceremony for the housing bill and instead used that bill and his own campaign promise as a hostage to pass a voter suppression bill that he deemed more important because affordability or something.
"Buying a home is unattainable for so many Americans. Is this election legislation more important to you than resolving the housing crisis?"
"This is every election's important. We're doing very well. uh they want a lot of communists to come in. I'm saying it a little bit differently, but the people that they're pushing are communists and this country is not going to have communists. Thank you very much."
So Trump cancels the housing bill signing, instead opting to hold it hostage for the Save America Act. In other words, it was more important for Donald Trump to rig elections than make housing more affordable in accordance with what he promised his own voters in his own campaign. It's almost like, and I hope you're sitting down for this, Trump never actually cared about anything related to affordability, and it was always just a shallow tactic to get your votes. Imagine that.
I mean, even Fox News seems completely dumbfounded.
"This housing bill, it was bipartisan, and it was seen as a way that it was going to help out potentially young home buyers who can't afford it right now. Do you think there's any political risk here in in cancelling this ceremony just at the behest of the the Save America Act? This is something everybody wanted."
So, I'm going to spell it out really simply here so that even the host at Fox can understand. Donald Trump does not give a about regular people. He never did. His refusal to sign the housing bill does not bother him one single bit. He doesn't care about housing. He never cared about housing. He cares about power and consolidating more of it for himself. Anyone who still thinks that Donald Trump is looking out for the little guy, the forgotten American, is either lying or stupid. In the case of these Fox anchors, you be the judge.
All of which is a point that Elizabeth Warren made here.
"I don't have any idea. This just doesn't make any sense. Other than whatever it is he wants to do, it's a complete indifference to the cost squeeze on American families and to genuine efforts to do something about it. you know, he could be over here trying to claim a victory lap and instead he's saying no, no, he doesn't want anything to do with it. It's because he really doesn't care about American families and doesn't care about the fact that prices are up and the promises he made to lower costs on day one have not only come to nothing. Prices are higher on groceries. Prices are higher on health care. Prices are higher on on virtually everything that Americans buy because of Donald Trump's policies."
Now, it's worth pointing out that Donald Trump does not have much leverage here because the bill passed the House and the Senate. Today, Mike Johnson sent it to the White House for Trump's signature. So, now Donald Trump has 10 days to review it. If he opts not to sign it, then either it automatically becomes law without his signature after the 10-day period expires, or if Congress adjourns before the 10 days are up, Trump can simply kill the bill by choosing not to sign it, which is called a pocket veto, or he can formally veto the bill, which would send it back to Congress, which does have the votes to override his veto.
Now whether they would actually be willing to explicitly override him is another story entirely. But in theory, if they weren't growling sick of fans who've taken up collective residence in the protective warmth of his colon, it's something they could do. But again, in any normal sane world, there would be no question about signing a bill that would make good on a promise that Trump himself made. But like all the rest of his promises, it was just window dressing. It was the glossy veneer of populism. But he doesn't actually care about housing. Just like he doesn't care about lowering costs, which is why he launched a trade war that sent the cost of everything surging on day one. Just like he doesn't care about inflation, which is why inflation is currently 33% higher than when even Joe Biden left office. Just like he doesn't care about making healthc care more affordable, which is why he gutted it for tens of millions of Americans. Just like why he doesn't care about releasing the Epstein files, which is why he's actively engaged in a cover up. Just like he doesn't actually care about stopping foreign wars, which is why he jumped head first into one in the Middle East. And the rest of his party lets him do all of this. They are in office to serve him, not you.
As far as the priorities we all care about, well, according to Trump, those are "so unimportant by compared to by compared to the Save America."
Before you go, I'm very excited to announce that I've written a new book titled The Day After: How to Wield Power in a PostTrump World. The book explores what is, in my opinion, the single most important theme that we're dealing with in politics today and moving forward. Power. Specifically, how Republicans abuse it and how Democrats refuse to wield it. This book explains how we got here and more importantly, how we should finally wield power if we're fortunate enough to get it back. It is the blueprint for progressives who want to do far more than just restore the status quo. Please pre-order today by visiting the link in the episode description or go to brianetylcoen.com/book. You can grab yours from any of the major retailers like Amazon or Barnes & Noble or find an independent bookstore closest to you that's also listed on that website. Thanks so much for supporting independent media.