To prevail in the midterms, Republicans have to hope that an out-of-touch billionaire who only cares about himself can convince Americans that the economy he is ruining with his policies is working great and that the higher prices they are paying are a hoax. Good luck!
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During his first term in office, Donald Trump presided over a good but hardly exceptional economy. And yet, as evidenced by consumer confidence ratings and how satisfied voters were with the direction in which the country was headed (both of which hit 10-year highs shortly before the coronavirus pandemic rocked the world), he managed to convince Americans that he was responsible for ushering in an era of unprecedented prosperity.
And, all things considered, that makes sense.
Trump’s style and the cult-like devotion he enjoys from his supporters and friendly media outlets make him a great fair-weather president. Even though “his” economy wasn’t overly remarkable and largely continued trends that began under Barack Obama, it looked good.
As it did under almost every president in history, the stock market reached record highs. In addition, unemployment was very low, inflation was in check, and wages were up.
To regular Americans who weren’t paying close attention to things like the widening wealth gap, it seemed as though things were back on track after the shock of the Great Recession.
In other words, whether deservedly or not, there was a lot a braggadocious billionaire who likes to embellish his own achievements could take credit for.
And that’s how a perfectly fine economy became “the greatest economy of all time.”
Today, it’s a completely different story.
While the fundamentals of the economy Trump inherited from Joe Biden were solid in terms of growth, inflation, and unemployment, most Americans rightfully feel pessimistic about the state of affairs and their personal finances.
Nearly half of them have difficulty affording necessities like groceries, health care, housing, and utilities.
More than a quarter have delayed medical check-ups or skipped a prescription to save money.
The economy is shedding jobs and warning signs are popping up left and right.
In all of this, the GOP-controlled Congress is cutting food assistance, kicking millions off Medicaid, and increasing health care premiums for millions more.
Finally, contrary to the president’s proclamations, prices aren’t coming down, especially not at a rate that would provide real relief to Americans who are struggling to make ends meet.
Therefore, it’s hardly surprising that consumer confidence has plummeted and is approaching half of what it was before the pandemic.
The president’s confidence, however, has not waned one bit.
While the pain that Americans are feeling is very real, Trump calls it all a “hoax” and keeps telling them that everything is going great.
This time, however, they don’t believe him.
For whatever reason, Trump has been able to gaslight Americans, and especially Republicans, into believing all kinds of crazy things; for example, that he is competent, that the 2020 election was stolen, that his various prosecutions are not the result of his lawlessness but rather of a witch hunt, and, perhaps most importantly, that he can fix the economy because he “had already done it once.”
As we noted above, he didn’t. However, since his rhetoric is parroted endlessly in the media, enough voters felt it would be a good idea to give him another chance.
That turned out to be a historic mistake.
Because while Trump didn’t bungle the solid economy he inherited in 2017, he is really screwing things up this time around.
And all of the characteristics that made him a suitable fair-weather president make him a terrible leader in a crisis.
First of all, Trump ran on the promise that only he could fix the economy. However, while he has ushered in a new “golden age” for Oval Office decorations, he hasn’t done anything to address the plight of ordinary Americans… well, apart from making things significantly worse with his tariffs.
Speaking of his gaudy White House makeover, while voters might have once felt that it would be good to elect a “successful businessman,” Trump keeps making it painfully obvious that he and his billionaire buddies are completely detached from the reality of regular folks.
How can a president feel their pain when he obsesses over a multimillion-dollar ballroom, is holed up in his exclusive club all the time, and throws lavish (and tone-deaf) parties for his super rich friends who, by all accounts, keep getting wealthier?
And how can someone who thinks that you need to show a photo ID to go grocery shopping (and who, for that matter, seems unfamiliar with the term “groceries”) understand the struggle of putting food on the table?
Trump to UAE president: "We have a term 'groceries.' It's an old term but it means basically what you're buying, food, it's a pretty accurate term but it's an old fashioned sound but groceries are down."
He doesn’t go shopping. He has probably never pumped gas. He isn’t sitting at the kitchen table to figure out which bill he has to pay first and which one could maybe wait a bit longer.
Maybe those things weren’t critical when things were going well, but they are a liability now.
And speaking of bad looks, it doesn’t help that Trump, his family, and his super-rich cronies are clearly making money hand-over-fist right now.
Even if Americans might overlook that the president is enriching himself while they struggle, they would at least want him to show that he feels their pain.
But Trump doesn’t do empathy; he only cares about himself.
Earlier this week, after proclaiming that he would give himself an “A+++++” on the economy, he weighed in on the issue and told Americans that things were going great.
“Prices are coming down FAST, Energy, Oil and Gasoline, are hitting five year lows, and the Stock Market today just hit an All Time High. Tariffs are bringing in Hundreds of Billions of Dollars, and we are respected as a Nation again,” he wrote in a social media post. “When will I get credit for having created, with No Inflation, perhaps the Greatest Economy in the History of our Country? When will people understand what is happening? When will Polls reflect the Greatness of America at this point in time, and how bad it was just one year ago?”
There you have it.
Those regular folks complaining about the high cost of living are just not smart enough to see that they are actually doing really well.
All of these things are really bad for Republicans as they head into a crucial election year in which affordability will be the central issue.
However, what’s worse for them is that Trump, who is incapable of ever acknowledging that he could be wrong about something, will expect GOP candidates to talk up the economy in the same way he does.
This means that, when they hit the campaign trail or appear on TV, they have to pretend that everything is just fine, that the administration deserves high marks for its stewardship of the economy, and that Trump has kept his promises to the American people.
It’s not a sustainable lie.
In fact, the last time a party sought to persuade voters not to believe their own lying eyes, Republicans were the beneficiaries. That was last year, when Democrats spent months trying to convince Americans that Joe Biden was “at the top of his game” and “sharp as a tack” until all of that fell apart during a debate debacle.
Well, Republicans claiming that the economy is great are sounding just as ridiculous every time their voters go to the store, check their credit card statements, or see how much money is left over after they pay their bills. For most of them, it isn’t much.
More than half of them said recently that they either could not afford things like a vacation, attending a professional sporting event or a concert, or going out to dinner with friends, or they could only afford them with some difficulty.
That’s Trump’s economy, and anybody who believes that it deserves an A+++ is going to get their a** handed to them next fall.
