As we watch next Monday's debate, there's one phrase we're sure to hear on a host of issues from policy master Donald Trump: "We have to be very strong” on (insert issue here).
Trump has been running for president for 15 months and his solution to nearly every big problem facing the nation can be reduced down to that one pivotal phrase, regardless of whether he's talking about the debt limit or immigration or terrorism.
What does that even mean, you say? Who knows! He's never explained it because it's apparently self-evident—an umbrella policy statement that will clearly yield hundreds if not thousands of sound government initiatives under his visionary leadership. Ya know, almost like a broad mission statement, except completely useless.
Now, it's true that, sometimes, depending on the particulars, Trump throws in a double "very, very" for emphasis or he'll rotate in the occasional "tough" in place of "strong." But the good news is, there's no variation in meaning because the phrase has none. It's a one-sentence policy platform everyone can remember that’s meaningless. Simple!
With any luck, Monday’s debate moderators will actually press Trump to explain this ambiguity rather than just letting it pass for a discernible policy.
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Here's just a sampling of Trump's “very strong” platform over the course of his candidacy.
- On the debt limit and the possibility of letting the U.S. default, Oct. 18, 2015: “I would be very, very strong on the debt limit.”
- On negotiating on the international stage, Nov. 2, 2015: “We need very strong people.”
- After the Orlando Pulse shooting, June 13, 2016: "We have to be very strong with our military, with our security. ... We have to be very strong in terms of looking at the mosques.”
- On how to fight terrorism, June 29, 2016: "We have to be so strong."
- Following the Bastille Day attack in France, July 14, 2016: "We have to get awfully tough and we have to get very, very smart and vigilant."
- On not endorsing Paul Ryan, Aug. 2, 2016: "We need very, very strong leadership."
- On illegal immigration, Aug. 22, 2016: "We have to be very, very strong when people come in illegally."
- On monitoring American Muslims, March 27, 2016: "If we're not very, very strong and very, very smart, we have a big, big problem coming up." (i.e. We need to be very strong and very smart.)
- The day of the Chelsea bombing, Sept. 18, 2016: "We better get very, very tough."
- The morning following the Chelsea bombing, Sept. 19, 2016: "We're going to have to be very tough."
Also, Trump’s “very strong into the whole thing with Second Amendment;” he would be “a very strong cheerleader for the police;” he’s “a very, very strong believer in Christianity and religion;” and Trump has “very strong, very thick skin.”
Well, that last statement really inspires confidence in all the other things he’ll be “very strong” on.