Yahoo News About Those Posts Quoting Trump's Remarks About Water, Washing Machines and Rain
On June 24, 2024, a Reddit user posted in the r/facepalm subreddit a screenshot containing a long quote attributed to former U.S. President Donald Trump. The post also featured a still image of Trump delivering a speech at a campaign rally. In the purported quote, Trump speaks about people having "no water in your faucets," "washing machines to wash your dishes," and rain.
A transcription and video of Trump's remarks are featured later in this article.
Trump genuinely did say those words during a speech at a campaign rally hosted at the Liacouras Center in Philadelphia on June 22. The source of the Reddit screenshot, however, omitted two parts of Trump's comments that could have provided some context for what the former president was saying.
A Google search helped to find the source of the screenshot in the Reddit post: a June 22 post on X from @BidenHQ, the rapid response account for President Joe Biden's reelection campaign. The X post featured a video of Trump making the remarks that appear in the text of the post. That video was not available to users viewing the screenshot in the Reddit post.
At least one X user responding to the @BidenHQ post noted that, while the video included with the post was continuous and did not contain edits, the text transcript included above the video omitted two parts of Trump's comments. Both of those omissions featured Trump talking about flow restrictors.
Flow restrictors are devices perhaps best known for their inclusion in showerheads. They are designed to regulate the flow rate of water through various outlets in homes.
We transcribed Trump's full comments and bolded the two parts omitted from the text of the Biden campaign's post. Just prior to the beginning of Trump's remarks about water, he referenced Biden and the Green New Deal, saying, "I will end 'Crooked Joe's' wasteful spending and rapidly terminate the green new scam. The green new scam. You know what the green new scam is?" He then continued:
No water in your faucets. You ever tried buying a new home and you turn it on? They have restrictors in there. You want to wash your hair. You want to wash your hands. You turn on the water and it goes drip, drip. The soap, you can't get it off your hand. So you keep it running for about ten times longer. You're trying. The worst is your hair. I have this beautiful, luxuriant hair, and I put stuff on. I put it in. Lather. I like lots of lather because I like it to come out extremely dry because it seems to be slightly thicker that way. And I lather up and then you turn on this crazy shower and the thing drip, drip, and you say, 'I'm gonna be here for 45 minutes. What?' They put restrictors and they put them on in places like here where there's so much water you don't know what to do with it. You know, it's called rain. It rains a lot in certain places. But, now their idea, you know, did you see the other day? They just, I opened it up and they closed it again. I opened it, they close it, washing machines to wash your dishes. There is a problem. They don't want you to have any water. They want no water.
We contacted the Biden campaign by email to ask about the post's transcript omissions and also reached out to the Trump campaign to ask about the former president's comments. We will update this story if we receive any responses.
We were unable to find any information linking the Green New Deal to a flow-restrictor requirement but will update this story if relevant information comes to light.
Video of Trump's Philadelphia Speech
Readers can watch the relevant portion of Trump's speech in a video from a live broadcast hosted on the YouTube channel for The Times and The Sunday Times. The moment regarding his comments about water question begins at around the 42:09 mark.
Trump's Past Remarks About Faucets, Water and Toilets
Trump previously made similar comments about water and flow restrictors at a Whirlpool manufacturing plant in August 2020. At the time, he said, "And the same thing with sinks, toilets and showers. You go into a new home, you turn on the faucet; no water comes out. You turn on the shower. If you're like me, you can't wash your beautiful hair properly. (Laughter and applause). You waste 20 minutes longer. 'Please come out.' The water — it drips, right? You know what I'm talking — they put restrictors on. I got rid of that. I signed it out. That's common sense."
In 2021, the Biden administration reversed Trump's rule that previously increased the flow of water in showerheads. The Washington Post reported at the time, "Trump's shower head rule was part of a broader effort within the administration to relax energy efficiency standards and regulations for an array of household appliances, including dishwashers, washing machines and clothes dryers."
Trump also once spoke about water during a White House meeting in December 2019. At the time, he claimed Americans experienced problems with water "dripping out" of faucets. He also added, "People are flushing toilets 10 times, 15 times, as opposed to once." The New York Times reported the toilet-flushing matter related to the EPA and a federal standard for the amount of water used per flush.
Trump and Whirlpool
Immediately after the end of Trump's comments highlighted in the @BidenHQ post, he continued by talking about Whirlpool and laundry machines. Trump said, "And I was with Whirlpool. The head of Whirlpool. I helped save that company because they were being attacked by China and South Korea, and I put tariffs on those machines coming in."
The New York Times reported in April 2019 these washing machine tariffs "stung consumers while lifting corporate profits." The article cited research from April 2019 conducted by the University of Chicago's Becker Friedman Institute for Economics. That research concluded, "Despite the increase in domestic production and employment, the costs of these 2018 tariffs are substantial: in a partial equilibrium setting, we estimate increased annual consumer costs of around 1.5 billion USD, or roughly 820,000 USD per job created."
Further, the conservative Heritage Foundation published an article in August 2020 displaying the headline, "Why Trump's Washing Machine Tariffs Are Cronyism." The story's author concluded, "When the government imposes regulations, taxes or tariffs to aid one industry or company, others pay the price. Beneficiaries of these policies say the government is 'leveling the playing field,' but the truth is that unfairness in the market just shifts to someone else. Ultimately, consumers foot the bill, and American families suffer."
Sources:
Dapcevich, Madison. "Does Biden Support the Green New Deal?" Snopes, 1 Oct. 2020, https://www.snopes.com//fact-check/does-biden-support-green-new-deal/.
Diaz, Johnny. "Trump Wants a Review of Toilets: Americans Are Flushing '10 Times, 15 Times.'" The New York Times, 7 Dec. 2019, https://www.nytimes.com/2019/12/07/us/politics/trump-toilet-flushing.html.
Flaaen, Aaron, et al. "The Production, Relocation, and Price Effects of US Trade Policy: The Case of Washing Machines." The University of Chicago's Becker Friedman Institute for Economics, 18 Apr. 2019, https://bfi.uchicago.edu/working-paper/the-production-relocation-and-price-effects-of-us-trade-policy-the-case-of-washing-machines/.
"FULL REMARKS: President Trump at Whirlpool Factory in Ohio." YouTube, LiveNOW from Fox, 6 Aug. 2020, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rr-gnvs_qF4.
"LIVE: Donald Trump Hosts MAGA Rally in Philadelphia." YouTube, The Times and The Sunday Times, 22 June 2024, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_R7hzWfu7wg.
"Remarks by President Trump at Whirlpool Corporation Manufacturing Plant." Trump White House Archives, 6 Aug. 2020, https://trumpwhitehouse.archives.gov/briefings-statements/remarks-president-trump-whirlpool-corporation-manufacturing-plant/.
Smith, Tori K. "Why Trump's Washing Machine Tariffs Are Cronyism." The Heritage Foundation, 7 Aug. 2020, https://www.heritage.org/trade/commentary/why-trumps-washing-machine-tariffs-are-cronyism.
Tankersley, Jim. "Trump's Washing Machine Tariffs Stung Consumers While Lifting Corporate Profits." The New York Times, 21 Apr. 2019, https://www.nytimes.com/2019/04/21/business/trump-tariffs-washing-machines.html.
"Trump Says People Are 'Flushing Toilets 10, 15 Times' in Call for Better Water Standards." YouTube, Guardian News, 7 Dec. 2019, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XGChTEfeeC4.
Woodard, John. "What Is a Flow Restrictor and How Does It Work?" Fresh Water Systems, 11 Mar. 2024, https://www.freshwatersystems.com/blogs/blog/what-is-a-flow-restrictor-and-how-does-it-work.
