Even though he was elected on a promise of taming inflation in the United States, new economic figures released this week prove that Donald Trump’s policies are actually exacerbating the problem, with inflation rising 3 percent in September.
While Trumpflation threatens to plunge the country into a recession, it could also wind up being electoral poison for him and Republicans in next year’s midterm elections, according to columnist Heather Digby Parton
Just this week, Trump was asked about the inflation numbers, to which he responded, “Inflation, I’ve already taken care of.” He added, “Economically, the country is the strongest it’s ever been — thank God for tariffs. If we didn’t have tariffs we’d be a third-world nation.”
“That’s a typically absurd comment and barely anyone believes it — not even many of his own supporters,” Parton counters. “Polling shows that inflation is the president’s lowest issue rating, averaging in the mid-30s and dropping. While the price of eggs has fallen back to normal levels now that the bird flu crisis has abated, people are seeing the price of beef skyrocket by 51% since February 2020. Americans famously love beef, so this placed Trump in dangerous territory — even before he announced his plan to quadruple imports of Argentinian beef, which have left ranchers “furious,” according to the New York Times.”
Tariffs are a big reason why inflation will continue to rise, Parton continues.
“The full effects of Trump’s tariffs haven’t yet been felt. Bigger companies were able to front load their inventories in anticipation, and small businesses have been taking out loans and freezing hiring to keep from raising prices. While farmers are being squeezed by losing their international markets due to retaliatory tariffs, they are facing higher prices for their own inputs at the same time.”
Inflation, Parton warns, is a “ticking time bomb for Republicans.”
“They should have learned from the Biden administration’s stumbles that you can’t persuade people that they should be happy about the cost of living just because the statistics are good. And in this case, the statistics are not good. In fact, they’re getting worse.”
A sagging economy and higher prices on goods and services do not bode well for the GOP and Trump.
“Not even Trump, with his talent for pounding falsehoods so relentlessly that it convinces a lot of people to believe him instead of their own eyes, can beat the vibes when people are paying more and earning less,” Parton wrote. “It’s another perfect storm, and this time it’s one entirely of his own making.”
Imagine a massive electoral blowout for Republicans a year from now. Ironically, it could well happen because Trump and the GOP failed to heed the warnings and tried instead to minimize the pain we all feel when we go shopping.
It couldn’t happen to a more deserving group of clueless asshats.
