'Be more relatable': GOP begs Trump to stop talking about dolls
The Hill reports some GOP lawmakers are catching let-them-eat-cake vibes from President Donald Trump’s recent doll comments, and they fear similar statements in the future will come off “as out of touch” and be “counterproductive.”
Trump’s controversial comment came during a Cabinet meeting last week, "surrounded by a number of multi-millionaires and one of the richest individuals in the world,” reports the Hill, “And he has repeated at least three times since that Americans should become more comfortable with fewer things — at least in the interim.”
“All I’m saying is that a young lady, a 10-year-old-girl, 9-year-old girl, 15-year-old-girl, doesn’t need 37 dolls,” Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One, hours after he defended the comments in an interview with ‘Meet the Press.’ “She could be very happy with two or three or four or five.”
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Humorists like USA Today writer Rex Huppke pounced the statements, noting how Trump generously increased his original "two-doll" cap to three dolls at a later interview: “We are fortunate to have a billionaire in charge who allows the youth of America such extravagances, one who confidently tells parents not to worry about rising prices while humbly keeping his taxes low.”
Huppke included a statement from Rep. David Joyce (R-Ohio), who has a net worth of more than $4.5 million, saying “I think the American people will understand [Trump's statement] because the American people understand shared sacrifice.”
The Hill found most Republicans refused to question the president’s tactics openly. Interviews with a handful of GOP senators netted noncommittal responses about Trump’s “unique” style of communication. But one anonymous GOP official said the president is broadcasting a troublesome appearance of privilege that will not connect with some voters.
“Everything that we need to do needs to be instructed by people who experienced scarcity, and that’s clearly the words of somebody that’s never experienced scarcity,” a Senate Republican told The Hill. “It’s not really sensitive to the circumstances of people that are struggling every day.”
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In 2020, three political scientists studied the impact of location and income on white voters’ election choices and confirmed a national trend of poorer white people being more likely to vote for Trump than richer ones. And one of the more prominent data points arising from the 2024 election was the significant swing toward Donald Trump among U.S. voters earning less than $50,000 a year.
“It would be helpful to be more relatable,” the anonymous GOP member told Hill reporters.
Sen. Kevin Cramer (R-N.D.) told The Hill that Trump is “setting the expectations as a millionaire that may not translate to the family worker.”
“I grew up the son of a rural electric lineman, and no one ever got 30 dolls, but if they got one it was a good Christmas. It may very well be that the illustrations fall a little bit flat with middle-class America,” Cramer said. “It’s unnecessary for sure.”
Cramer suggested Trump use automobiles or a number of kitchen-table items as better examples.
Read the full Hill article here.
