Trump, Who Once Opposed Minimum-Wage Hike, Says He Would ‘Like to See an Increase’
Here we see Donald Trump trying to move to center by flip flopping while not accepting responsibility for his position change. He does this by invoking the GOP’s state’s rights canon, something that individual GOP politicians do when having to surrender an unpopular Republican position to win an election.
He knows that some states would never raise the wage, and further that invoking state’s rights makes the decision not his while also ameliorating his waffling for many Southern & Western Conservative supporters of state’s rights. It’s a complicated algebra, but one that usually works for Republicans.
In the past, Trump has opposed upping the minimum wage. But in recent days, he has increasingly warmed to the idea.
“I have seen what’s going on, and I don’t know how people make it on $7.25,” said Trump on NBC’s “Meet the Press,” referencing the federal minimum hourly wage. “With that being said, I would like to see an increase of some magnitude, but I’d rather leave it to the states. Let the states decide.”
Speaking on ABC’s “This Week With George Stephanopoulos,” the business mogul said, “I haven’t decided in terms of numbers, but I think people have to get more.”
He acknowledged that he was putting forth a position at odds with his previous stance. “Sure, it’s a change. I’m allowed to change. You need flexibility,” he said.
In a Republican presidential debate in November, Trump was asked about calls to increase the minimum wage and responded: “Taxes too high, wages too high. We’re not going to be able to compete against the world. I hate to say it, but we have to leave it the way it is.”
More: Trump, who once opposed minimum-wage hike, says he would ‘like to see an increase’
In another false move to the middle he’s tossing a second conservative election loser overboard by appearing to say he’s ok with raising taxes on the rich - however with his (nudge nudge, wink wink…) nod to “working with congress” which is conservative and highly opposed to raising any taxes, he effectively negates that position in GOP shorthand as well.
also see:
Trump wants taxes for rich to rise
So all of you journalists who have been saying “there’s no way.. ” for months regarding Trump, you really need to stop and instead start reporting what he is doing. You better bring the Klieg lights instead of the usual sarcasm and scorn.
Because there’s no way I would place “No way” in front of a sentence about Trump’s election chances. Republicans have have been successfully performing these sleights of hand in front of the rubes for decades. Chances of Trump winning the general election are pretty darned slim, as Amanda points out in her article, but “no way” is one step farther than I am willing to go.