New York Times White House correspondent Maggie Haberman used an incomplete quote at a briefing — drawing a delusional and absurd response from White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt.
Over the weekend, Trump Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick told Face The Nation host Margaret Brennan that “we are going to replace the armies of millions of people – well, remember, the army of millions and millions of human beings screwing in little, little screws to make iPhones, that kind of thing is going to come to America.”
“It’s going to be automated. And great Americans, the tradecraft of America, is going to fix them, is going to work on them. They’re going to be mechanics. There’s going to be HVAC specialists. There’s going to be electricians,” Lutnick said.
The quote went viral on social media — but many seized on the first part to suggest that Lutnick envisions sweatshop jobs, rather than the absurd idea that America will prosper taking care of the robots that will build the iPhones here. Previous waves of automation have failed to provide enough “robotcare” jobs for the Americans the robots replaced.
At Tuesday’s White House press briefing, Haberman read out only the first part of that quote, and asked Leavitt whether President Donald Trump believes an army of iPhone assemblers will shift to the United States.
Instead of reading out the full quote and addressing the (admittedly delusional) thing that Lutnick actually said, Leavitt went with the shortened quote and responded in even more delusional fashion, telling Haberman that we “absolutely have the labor” and “the workforce” to transplant millions of sweatshop iPhone jobs:
MAGGIE HABERMAN: Karoline, thanks.
Does the president endorse something that Howard Lutnick said on television this weekend, which was that the army of millions and millions of human beings screwing in little screws to make iPhones, that that kind of thing is going to be moving to the U.S.? Is that how the president envisions manufacturing shifting?
And, if so, how long would that take roughly?
LEAVITT: The president wants to increase manufacturing jobs here in the United States of America, but he’s also looking at advanced technologies. He’s also looking at A.I. and emerging fields that are growing around the world that the United States needs to be a leader in as well.
So there’s an array of diverse jobs, more traditional manufacturing jobs, as you discussed, but also jobs in advanced technologies. The president is looking at all of those. He wants them to come back home.
MAGGIE HABERMAN: But iPhones specifically, is that something that he thinks is the kind of technology that can move to the U.S.?
LEAVITT: Absolutely. He believes we have the labor, we have the work force, we have the resources to do it. And, as you know, Apple has invested $500 billion here in the United States. So if Apple didn’t think the United States could do it, they probably wouldn’t have put up that big chunk of change.
The exchange exposes a major weakness in a press secretary who is undoubtedly Trump’s favorite and most successful White House chief spokesperson to date. Leavitt has a complete mastery of the press briefing “vibe” that none of her predecessors can match, and that vibe-setting skill allows her to get away with a poor command of facts and preparation.
But a prepared press shop would have had Lutnick’s full quote flagged in the briefing book and a (relatively) more sensical response at the ready.
Or maybe Trump really does believe there are millions of Americans anxious to turn iPhone screws for pennies. Stranger things have happened.
Watch above via Face the Nation.
This is an opinion piece. The views expressed in this article are those of just the author.
