Trump's Trials - How Trump uses "common sense" to make a political point

Episode Date: October 22, 2025

The idea of "common sense" has been central to American politics since the founding of the United States. Politicians still use the phrase all the time — perhaps none more so than Donald Trump.Support NPR and hear every episode of Trump's Terms sponsor-free with NPR+. Sign up at plus.npr.org.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

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I'm Elsa Chang. The idea of common sense has been central to American politics since the founding of the U.S. Politicians still use the phrase all the time, perhaps none more so than Donald Trump. NPR White House correspondent Danielle Kurtzleben reports on how the phrase became one of the mega movement's central arguments. President Trump seems to frame nearly everything he believes as common sense, like his recommendation that pregnant women not take Tylenol. There's something there. There's something going on. and we have to address it. And so I'm addressing it.

The best I can't is a non-doctor, but I'm a man of common sense. Or when he cast doubt on the monthly jobs report, talking to CNBC's Joe Kernan. It's totally rigged. Smart people know it. People with common sense know it. The White House has also used it

to explain the current government shutdown. Here's press secretary Caroline Levitt, speaking to NPR's Morning Edition recently. Not enough Democrats voted for this common sense, clean continuing resolution to keep the government open. This isn't exactly new. Common Sense is such a widely used political phrase that University of Pennsylvania history professor Sophia Rosenfeld wrote an entire book on it. And when it comes to Trump, he uses it more than almost anybody else in American politics, although of course it has a really old origin story. That goes back to Thomas Payne in his 1776 pamphlet, Common Sense, which made the case to the earliest Americans that British rule of the colonies was wrong. And in that, she says, pain had hit upon the populist appeal of the phrase.

It invokes some kind of primordial, basic sense of ordinary people, a kind of lived experience that should transcend what the official or elite position is on something, and particularly should transcend book learning and school learning. And Trump regularly invokes that. Here he was speaking to military leaders at Quantico last month, differentiating his administration from Joe Biden's. that's surrounded him, radical left lunatics that are brilliant people, but dumb as hell when it came to policy and common sense. The phrase appeals more to several demographics that currently strongly align with Trump, says Frank Luntz, a strategist who has worked with Republicans. Common sense is a higher priority to those who live in rural communities than in those in the

urban areas. Common sense does better among older voters than it does among younger voters. And I think the reason why is that it reminds people of a more simple past. Which understandably appeals to people who want to make America great again. But Democrats use the phrase too. President Barack Obama tried to pass what he called common sense gun reform. Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez used the phrase this year on her fighting oligarchy tour with Senator Bernie Sanders. I believe that in the wealthiest nation in the history of the world,

If a person gets sick, they shouldn't go bankrupt. Common sense. One way to look at common sense is an attempt to signal that a policy isn't extreme and could have broad appeal. But as Lentz points out, it can also be a cudgel, especially in Trump's hands. For him, common sense has an even broader meeting. It's not just that you're right for the right reasons. It's also that the other side is wrong for being ideological, for being political, for being political, who are being outside the mainstream.

Rosenfeld has a similar take. It's also potentially rather demagogic. Common sense also suggests not that there's another side to it. The other side in a debate with common sense is nonsense. And in that sense and others, common sense can be considered one of the most powerful pieces of rhetoric the MAGA movement has found. To Rosenfeld, Trump especially uses the phrase to try to excuse norm-shattering behavior. like a September social media post saying, quote,

Chicago about to find out why it's called the Department of War. Here's how Trump explained that to a reporter. We're going to clean up our city. We're going to clean them up so they don't kill five people every weekend. That's not war. That's common sense. Common sense gives the impression of time-worn policy ideas, even if the policy, mass deployment of the National Guard into U.S. cities,

was previously unthinkable. Danielle Kurtzleben, NPR News. Before we wrap up, a reminder, you can find more coverage of the Trump administration on the NPR Politics podcast, where you can hear NPR's political reporters break down the day's biggest political news with new episodes every weekday afternoon. And thanks, as always, to our NPR Plus supporters who hear every episode of the show without sponsor messages. You can learn more at plus.npr.org. I'm Scott Detrow. Thanks for listening to Trump's term.

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