I think at this point, everyone is well aware that you can't take anything Trump says as "joking". Particularly when they claim it is. "It was just a joke" is a standard refuge of scoundrels.
Go to the airport and joke about bombing and hijacking aircraft, and you'll quickly find that nobody in charge thinks it's funny. They have no choice but to take those comments seriously, because the downside of ignoring them is unbounded.
The American voter had the same obligation in 2016 and 2024, and neglected it both times. Even today a third of us are just fine with what's happening. Why? Well, the right people are being hurt, apparently. And our dogs are safe from being eaten by immigrants, if not from being shot.
There's an excellent author named James C Scott who in (IIRC) "Two Cheers for Anarchism" explores the idea that people who are speaking to crowds understand that fundamentally they aren't "in charge" and must respond to what the crowd will accept. So he looks at how folks like MLK (in a positive manner) try different rhetorical directions while speaking with a crowd."
I believe that it's helpful for understand what Trump and his admin do isn't merely goofin off, but rather "testing" how folks respond.
You're correct Trump is a scoundrel (he's no friend of mine), but it's helpful to understand that this mode of wanting things both ways is a specific tool being used in specific ways.
I have said, that if Trump has one skill, it is that he can read a crowd. His rally's are word salads and nonsensical because he is searching for the right combination of words that garners the reaction he is looking for and when he gets it he tries to hone in on exactly what the crowd liked about that phrase.
His supporters will often say he is not literal that his words are metaphorical, but he is not a metaphorical person. Everything he says is a serious thought that he is at least considering even if it is absurd to everyone else.
I believe that it's important to take folks at their literal words even though that is hard work sometimes- I don't think it's okay to "float" these dumb ideas. I take them seriously, even if I think the folks trying to make schrodenger's jokes out of them are disingenuous clowns who are simply lying.
As a fan of psychoanalytic thought, having issues with metaphors is a pretty interesting symptom, and it certainly lines up with my understanding of Trump.
I used to feel bad for that kind of a person, totally unable to enjoy literally anything. Now I am too worn out for that.
In particular it's a standard response by Fox News addicts, whenever they come up with something Fox told them that's so over the top that people stare at them as if they were insane the response is "he was just joking, you don't get it".
