In a “60 Minutes” interview Sunday evening, President Donald Trump claimed, “We have no inflation,” and “Our groceries are down.” With these false statements, Trump appears to be repeating a political miscalculation that haunted his predecessor, Joe Biden: denying the economic reality Americans experience in their daily lives.
While inflation is below the crisis levels seen during the Biden administration, it persists and has been rebounding, rising in September to its highest annual rate since January, partly due to the president’s tariffs. Data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics also contradicts Trump’s claims about food costs, showing that grocery prices have risen 1.4% across all major categories since he took office.
Dismissing this reality is a difficult position to maintain with the American public. A new CNN poll conducted by SSRS found that 72% of Americans believe the economy is in poor shape, with 47% naming the economy and cost of living as the country’s top issue.
This sentiment mirrors the challenges faced by former President Biden, whose approval ratings on the economy were consistently low. In June 2022, with inflation at a four-decade high, Biden highlighted strong GDP growth, falsely claiming on “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” that the U.S. had “the fastest growing economy in the world.” While he called inflation “the bane of our existence,” he downplayed its scope by saying it was “mostly in food, and in gasoline.”
This messaging likely hurt Democrats in subsequent elections, as affordability remained a chief concern for voters. Even as the rate of inflation slowed, prices continued to rise from painfully high levels, and the Biden administration’s declarations of a strong economy failed to sway public perception. In his 2024 State of the Union address, Biden stated, “Inflation has dropped from 9% to 3%…the American people are beginning to feel it.” Voters, however, remained focused on the cumulative effect of rising prices.
While Biden’s strategy involved highlighting slowing price hikes and blaming corporations for “greedflation,” Trump is delivering direct untruths while blaming the previous administration. Regardless of the tactic, the effect may be the same, as voters tend to react negatively when politicians seem out of touch with their financial struggles.
Ironically, Trump and his campaign frequently criticized Biden for failing to acknowledge the pain inflation inflicted on Americans. Now that he is president, those inherited problems have become his own. According to CNN’s poll, 61% of Americans say Trump’s policies have worsened economic conditions.
This public discontent is reflected in consumer behavior. Companies like Chipotle, Coke, and Crocs reported last month that middle- and lower-income customers are cutting back on spending. Compounding the financial pressure are lackluster hiring, the erosion of federal safety-net benefits, and a rise in loan delinquencies among vulnerable households.
The core issue is that inflation is cumulative. According to Moody’s Analytics, the typical American household is spending $208 more per month for the same goods and services than in September 2024. Compared to the start of 2021, that figure rises to an additional $1,043 per month.
Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell recently explained why broad economic metrics often fail to resonate with the public. “Consumers are not interested in that story,” Powell said. “Their prices are higher… the reason they are so unhappy about inflation is the inflation we had in 2021, 2022 and 2023.” He added that while growing paychecks will help ease the burden, “that will take time.”
The political lesson may have been best articulated by Democratic strategist David Plouffe. In “Original Sin,” a book by CNN’s Jake Tapper and Alex Thompson, Plouffe identified the previous administration’s critical error. “Never again can we as a party suggest to people that what they’re seeing is not true,” he said.
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