Donald Trump’s recent comments on making child care more affordable have ignited a contentious debate. During a “policy speech” at the Economic Club of New York, Trump was asked by Indian-American entrepreneur Reshma Saujani about specific legislation to address child care costs. His response has been widely criticized as “nonsensical” and “stupid.”
Saujani, who is also the founder of Girls Who Code, inquired, “If you win in November, can you commit to prioritizing legislation to make child care affordable, and if so, what specific piece of legislation will you advance?” Trump’s reply downplayed the issue, describing child care as “ultimately not a very big problem” and suggesting it was “not that expensive to fix compared with the money he will raise from tariffs.”
In response, Saujani condemned Trump’s comments as “incomprehensible at best; at worst, outrageously offensive to the millions of families drowning in costs.” The cost of child care in the US ranges from $11,000 to $25,000 per year, with some areas reporting costs higher than housing.
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Both political parties have pledged child tax credits, with the Harris campaign offering an additional $6,000 tax credit for parents of newborns. Trump’s reference to his daughter Ivanka’s involvement in addressing child care also drew criticism on social media, with many dismissing it as insensitive given her wealthy background.
Trump’s full response, as reported by media sources, was as follows: “Well, I would do that, and we’re sitting down, and I was, somebody, we had Senator Marco Rubio, and my daughter Ivanka was so, uh, impactful on that issue. It’s a very important issue. But I think when you talk about the kind of numbers that I’m talking about, that, because, look, child care is child care is. Couldn’t, you know, there’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 that 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 gonna stop them from doing business with us, but they’ll have a very substantial tax when they send product into our country. Uh, those numbers are so much bigger than any numbers that we’re talking about, including child care, that it’s going to take care.
We’re gonna have – I, I look forward to having no deficits within a fairly short period of time, coupled with, uh, 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 stay with child care. I want to stay with child care, 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, uh, that I just told you about.
We’re gonna be taking in trillions of dollars, and as much as child care, uh, 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.”
Adding to the controversy, Trump’s running mate, JD Vance, suggested that parents should rely on family members like grandparents, aunts, and uncles for child care, and proposed reducing training and certification requirements for day care workers. Vance, who had already faced criticism for his “childless cat ladies” remark, faced additional backlash for his perceived insensitivity to the child care crisis, despite being a father of three.
(Includes inputs from online sources)
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