Don’t Fall for Trump’s “Half Truth” Traps

Over the weekend I observed the New York Times stumbling into one of President Trump’s strategic traps. He tells his voters that Electric Vehicles “don’t work” without further clarification. They understand what he means. He listens to the rural Electoral College voter who points out all the instances where EVs don’t work, understands these concerns, and weaponizes this small truth by baiting the press with broad statements that electric vehicles just don’t work. The New York Times took the bait in “Biden Administration Is Said to Slow Early Stage of Shift to Electric Cars” by Coral Davenport on February 17, 2024. The Times reported that with respect to EVs, Trump has been “falsely warning the public that they ‘don’t work.’” While Trump’s statement might be partially false, her statement was equally false. Each statement is both true and false at the same time. It just depends on your audience and what your test is for something that “works.” It is certainly true that a 100% battery EV “doesn’t work” as well as a gasoline vehicle in many applications. Saying that statement is false implies that it is the Times’ position that EVs work as well as the internal combustion engine in all situations. That is clearly false and the Times fell into Trump’s trap. He set up the Times for spreading fake news. It is the voter who will decide which statement is more false. And the voters who matter are the Electoral College voters.

This is a terrific example of how Trump speaks directly to Electoral College voters, a substantial portion of whom are rural. The Times is speaking to coastal urban readers and the donor class in New York, Washington, D.C., and California – who are 100% irrelevant to the Electoral College vote in a presidential election.

Don’t spring this trap. An authentic and credible politician will simply acknowledge that of course EVs don’t work in every situation. It takes the wind out of Trump’s sails.

For those interested, I’ll post something tomorrow to describe many of the scenarios where an all-electric EV simply doesn’t work for the rural voter. For example someone who rents an apartment and never leaves her village, who parks outside and can’t install a home charger, and who lives 25 miles from the nearest charger. No one would suggest that she drive 50 miles round-trip to the nearest charger just to a charge her car that might only have 100 mile range. It is fair to say that an EV just “doesn’t work” for her. And in my Township this person absolutely votes.