Trump was supposed to talk about the economy. Instead he asked why toiletries are locked up in pharmacies

President Donald Trump, from a toss-up congressional district in New York on Friday, began testing his midterm message that was ostensibly on the economy. But he veered off-topic right from the start, going off on tangents about voter identification, crime in cities, transgender women in sports and “Dumocrats,” his new chosen moniker for the opposition party. He complained that toiletries are locked up in pharmacies, making them harder to buy, and polled the audience on what he should call his predecessor, former President Joe Biden. Eventually, he landed on the topic of the speech, telling the crowd that he and his party worked to slash taxes and increase take-home pay, while Democrats opposed the effort at every turn. “I cut your taxes, cut the taxes on workers, families, small business, who are the soul of this state,” Trump said to the audience at Rockland Community College. Listing off the various provisions of the tax law, the president said: “These are all Republican tax cuts. The Democrats voted against every one of these tax cuts.” Trump traveled to the Hudson Valley area to appear with Republican Rep. Mike Lawler, who is up for reelection in what will be one of the most closely watched House races this November, for an event meant to promote the tax law Trump signed last year, particularly the quadrupling of the deduction for state and local taxes, which is critical in a high-tax state like New York. Trump called Lawler “fantastic” and mused about how the congressman was a “pain in the ass” as he badgered the administration on expanding the deduction. He pulled Lawler onstage during the event, and the congressman thanked the president “for working with me to deliver a big win” for the people in his district. He said that more than 90% of the people in his district were able to fully deduct their state and local taxes. Also appearing with the president at the event Friday was Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman, the Trump-backed Republican ca