In the least surprising news of the century, Trump told the people at his latest “rally” that he doesn’t want poor people working for him.

The US president told a crowd on Wednesday night: “Somebody said why did you appoint a rich person to be in charge of the economy? No it’s true. And Wilbur’s [commerce secretary Wilbur Ross] a very rich person in charge of commerce. I said: ‘Because that’s the kind of thinking we want.’”

Of course it is. He wants the kind of thinking that sees rich people as miraculous geniuses who deserve to be infinitely rich because of their massive talent and genius and hard work and genius and ontrapranooryal spirit. He wants the kind of thinking that sees poor people as lazy scum who deserve to be nibbled by rats in their beds because of their failure at ontrapranoorship.

The president explained that Ross and his economic adviser Gary Cohn “had to give up a lot to take these jobs” and that Cohn in particular, a former president of Goldman Sachs, “went from massive pay days to peanuts”.

Trump added: “And I love all people, rich or poor, but in those particular positions I just don’t want a poor person. Does that make sense?”

From the Trump point of view? Of course it does. From the point of view of a reasonable adult? It depends on how you’re defining “poor.” You don’t want a broke person who can’t get a job, because you want an actual working economist. Note that that means a professional, not a plutocrat.

The event underscores Trump’s comfort in a campaign setting. He laughed off the occasional heckler, repeated riffs from last year and appeared far more at ease when going after Democrats in front of adoring crowds than trying to push through his own legislative agenda from the confines of the White House.

Well that’s the thing, isn’t it. The guy loves performing. He’s addicted to it. He loves being the center of attention, he loves getting cheers and applause. (Don’t go thinking that’s just human nature. It’s not. Lots of people hate being the center of attention.) He loves babbling his repetitive stunted nonsense to a sea of adoring fans. He does not love the more sober activities that he has to perform as chief tenant of the White House. It’s a pity he didn’t realize where the campaigning would take him, but then few of us could believe it would.