Americans are widely rejecting President Donald Trump’s insistence that the economy is strong and there is no cost-of-living crisis, according to CNN’s chief data analyst.
The network’s polling guru, Harry Enten, suggested that the president risks dooming the GOP in the midterm elections if he continues to insist that concerns about affordability are a “hoax” or a “con job” pushed by Democrats.
“You can bloviate as much as you want in Washington, D.C., but at the end of the day, it’s the American people who make the ultimate decision at the ballot box, like they did last month in Virginia and in New Jersey,” Enten said.
“This is what it’s all about, baby. Google searches for ‘affordability’ are up 110 percent versus a year ago. More folks searched for affordability in the last month than at any point since the Great Recession, all the way back in 2009.
“This is no con job. This is the American people going online, searching for affordability. It’s the American people going to the ballot box, voting on affordability,” Enten added. “They think it is an important issue to touch on. Donald Trump might want to make the argument it’s a con job, but the American people don’t think so.”
Trump has received bipartisan criticism—including from his own inner circle—for taking the disastrous stance that there is no cost-of-living crisis affecting tens of millions of people, and that Americans aren’t struggling to afford everyday items and food.
“This whole thing is they use the word affordability. It’s a Democrat hoax,” Trump told reporters in the Oval Office on Wednesday. “When they use the word affordability, they never say anything else. ‘This election is about affordability,’ and then they go into the next subject. It’s a con job.”
The optics are so bad that Trump will soon embark on a national public appearance tour to try to convince people that the economy is improving under his second term.
As Enten noted, affordability is very much on voters’ minds, despite what the president insists.
Enten cited results from a Marquette University Law School poll showing that 36 percent of respondents said the cost of living is their most important issue. The economy as a whole was the top issue for 20 percent, with healthcare, Medicare, and Social Security at 17 percent.
“What do these all have in common? It’s do-re-mi. It’s all about the economy, spending, cost of living, entitlements, about being able to afford things. That’s what we’re talking about,” Enten said.
“This is the name of the game. It was the name of the game last month, and it is very likely to be the name of the game come 11 months from now in the elections.
“And if Donald Trump and the Republicans don’t start following the American people, well, you get results like you did last month in Virginia and New Jersey—Republicans losing by double digits in races they thought would be considerably closer,” Enten added.
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