President Donald Trump’s recent statements on the economy have sparked widespread scrutiny, particularly his dismissal of public concerns about affordability. In a Fox News interview, he labeled economic anxieties as a “con job by Democrats” and dismissed unfavorable polling data as “fake.” n nThis contrasts with the challenges faced by former President Joe Biden, whose administration initially downplayed inflation, describing it as “transitory” in mid-2021. At the time, Biden stated that persistent inflation was unlikely, despite emerging signs to the contrary. Within a year, the annual inflation rate surged from around 5% to over 9%, forcing a policy reassessment. n nWhile Biden’s misjudgment stemmed from optimism, Trump’s approach appears more dismissive. Rather than acknowledging economic pressures, he has repeatedly claimed there is no inflation or that grocery prices have decreased—assertions contradicted by official data. CNN’s Daniel Dale documented numerous inaccuracies in Trump’s economic claims, including false statements about energy and prescription drug costs. n nKevin Hassett, director of the National Economic Council, attempted to clarify Trump’s remarks by suggesting he meant inflation rates had declined, not prices themselves. However, as Dale pointed out, even inflation remains elevated. n nPublic perception presents a significant challenge. A Reuters-Ipsos poll from May indicated that 59% of Americans would hold Trump responsible for a potential recession, compared to 37% blaming Biden. Despite efforts to attribute ongoing economic difficulties to Biden’s tenure, polling suggests the public holds Trump accountable. n nSeveral factors may explain this shift. Trump repeatedly promised rapid price reductions, which have not materialized. Additionally, early implementation of broad tariffs in his second term placed him at the center of economic decision-making. Unlike Biden, who could partially attribute economic turmoil to the global pandemic, Trump lacks a comparable external scapegoat. n nCBS polling reveals that as many as 75% of Americans believe the Trump administration has not prioritized lowering prices—including 57% of Republicans. While Biden signed legislation like the “Inflation Reduction Act,” offering symbolic action, Trump has not introduced comparable measures. n nFaced with this data, Trump has chosen to reject public sentiment rather than adjust policy. This strategy risks deepening perceptions of detachment from economic realities. n— news from CNN
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Analysis: Trump’s flailing on the economy is worse than Biden’s
President Donald Trump’s recent commentary on the economy is drawing plenty of comparisons to then-President Joe Biden’s. n nIn his most dismissive remarks on the topic to date, Trump ratcheted up his downplaying of Americans’ affordability concerns in a Fox News interview on Monday. He even called them a “con job by Democrats” and said the “polls are fake.” n nFour years ago, Biden and his administration made a series of wayward predictions and comments about just how significant a problem inflation would prove to be. And they wound up paying a significant political price for their economic Pollyanna act. n nBut the situations aren’t that analogous. n nIn fact, Trump has gone much further in his attempts to bury his head in the sand. And he seems to have a bigger problem politically speaking, for several reasons. n nNo, the economy isn’t necessarily worse under Trump than it was under Biden. But Trump seems to have turned it into a bigger political liability. n nThe Biden administration’s sins on this front were largely in its failure to recognize or convey how stubborn a problem inflation would be. Administration officials repeatedly and infamously used words like “transitory,” suggesting the problem would soon go away. n n“We also know that as our economy has come roaring back, we’ve seen some price increases,” Biden said in July 2021. “Some folks have raised worries that could be a sign of persistent inflation. But that’s not our view.” n nTheir view was wrong. The annual inflation rate climbed from about 5% when Biden made those remarks all the way over 9% about a year later. In the intervening months, the administration effectively acknowledged its error. n nTrump, by contrast, isn’t just downplaying inflation or donning glasses that seem a couple of shades too rosy; he’s pretending the problem simply doesn’t exist. n nThat escalated Monday when he was pressed by Fox News’ Laura Ingraham on whether Americans were right to be feeling the economic pinch. Trump basically suggested it was much ado about nothing. n n“More than anything else, it’s a con job by the Democrats,” he said. n nWhen Ingraham pointed to polls that show Americans are quite anxious about the economy, the president responded: “I don’t know that they are saying that. I think polls are fake.” n nCNN’s Daniel Dale wrote a good rundown Monday of Trump’s nonstop string of lies about this subject – lies that he repeated in the same Fox interview even as he accused others of misinformation. Trump has misstated a bevy of economic data points, including on inflation, grocery prices, energy prices and prescription drug prices. He keeps saying things like that there is no inflation or that grocery prices are down. n n(Kevin Hassett, the director of Trump’s National Economic Council, claimed Monday when pressed by CNN’s Kaitlan Collins that Trump merely meant inflation was down, rather than prices. But that’s not what Trump has said. And as Dale notes, inflation is not down.) n nBiden’s gamble was that his and his administration’s predictions could turn out to be wrong, which they did. n nTrump’s gamble is that if he can’t convince people of his alternate version of reality, he risks looking completely out of touch. n nWhich brings us to the other major difference with Biden. n nThere is no question that inflation and the economy were political problems for the Democratic president; they likely helped deliver Trump the White House in 2024. But they appear to be even bigger political problems for Trump now. n nThat’s because people are more likely to tie economic problems to Trump, specifically. n nA number of recent polls have shown this: n nAnd despite Trump’s and his administration’s attempts to blame Biden for continuing economic pains, polls suggest Americans aren’t about to buy into that. n nA Reuters-Ipsos poll as far back as May showed that if the country were to fall into a recession, 59% of Americans would blame Trump, versus just 37% who would blame Biden. n nSo why might Americans be more likely to attach economic pains to Trump than they did to Biden? n nThere are a number of possible reasons. n nOne is that Trump pledged over and over to bring prices down quickly, and he clearly hasn’t done that. n nAnother is that Biden might have benefited from Americans blaming at least some of the economic problems on the Covid-19 pandemic – which rocked the economy worldwide – rather than his policies. n nAnother could be that Trump voluntarily took ownership of an already dicey economy by launching tariffs very early in his second term. n nBut arguably the biggest reason is that Americans just haven’t seen Trump take on this issue head-on. CBS polling shows as many 75% of Americans say the Trump administration has focused “not enough” on lowering prices. That includes 57% of Republicans. n n(At least Biden was doing things like getting Congress to pass a bill called the “Inflation Reduction Act” – regardless of whether it actually helped with inflation.) n nOne way for Trump to respond to this data would be to double down on making affordability his focus. Another is to pretend 75% of Americans simply don’t know what they’re talking about or that the number is “fake.” n nTrump has apparently chosen the latter. It’s difficult to see how those around him would see it as their best option.