Trump Floats Wild Conspiracy About Homelessness

Donald Trump sat for an EXCLUSIVE interview with Fox News’ Tucker Carlson during his visit to Japan, published online Monday night, during which he blabbered on and on about the complicated problem of homelessness, which apparently “started two years ago.”

The exchange began with Carlson musing about how clean Japan’s large cities are compared to American ones, with no “filth” or “junkies” to speak of.

“Why is that?” the Fox News host wondered.

“It’s a phenomenon that started two years ago,” Trump replied. “It’s disgraceful. I’m going to maybe—I am looking at it very seriously.”

He also suggested police officers are “getting actually very sick” just by patrolling the streets where there are homeless people, and that because of untreated mental illness, perhaps homeless Americans either “don’t even know” they’re living outdoors or that “perhaps they like living that way.”

Oddly enough, the president said when he came to DC—where homelessness and affordable housing are major, interconnected problems—he fixed it.

“We had certain areas of Washington, DC where that was starting to happen, and I ended it quickly,” he said. Trump went on to bemoan the fact that visiting foreign leaders might see homeless people, suggesting: “We may intercede. We may do something to get that whole thing cleaned up. It’s inappropriate.”

Trump blusters about so much that doesn’t come to pass, but musing about cleansing the streets of the nation’s capital still feels like a dark new low.