At a White House event on Thursday afternoon, Donald Trump bragged, in response to an unrelated question, that he’d “already taken care of” inflation. For those who keep an eye on the president’s public positions, the lie was jarring but familiar.

With unnerving frequency, Trump ignores economic data to insist — reality be damned — that he’s successfully “defeated,” “cured” and “solved” inflation.

American consumers would likely be delighted if such boasts were true. They are not. One day after the Republican again claimed to have triumphed over inflation, NBC News reported:

The sting of rising prices continues to linger. Consumer price growth hit 3% in September on an annual basis, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported Friday, slightly higher than the 2.9% rate seen in August. On a monthly basis, the rate fell from 0.3% to 0.2%, though many major categories saw increases, including housing, airline fares, recreation, household furnishings and apparel.

The data complicates the short-term future of U.S. monetary policy: The Federal Reserve has indicated that it expects to lower interest rates in response to the weakening economy, especially as job growth weakens to lows unseen since the Great Recession, but Fed Chair Jerome Powell’s inflation target is 2%.

With the latest report showing the Consumer Price Index inching up to 3%, the economy appears to be moving in the wrong direction, creating an uncertain path for the central bank.

As for the politics, the latest national poll from The Associated Press found that only 36% of Americans support Trump’s handling of the economy. Other recent surveys have pointed in the same direction.

The latest inflation data helps explain the public dissatisfaction.

In theory, the president could embrace a more effective economic agenda and abandon his beloved tariffs. Alternatively, he could encourage Americans to be patient as his misguided plans continue to fail.

But Trump has instead decided to insist to the public, over and over again, that the inflation they’re confronting in their daily lives isn’t really there.

It’s the identical strategy he’s adopted with grocery prices: As Americans struggle with rising prices at the checkout aisle, Trump keeps lying about his success in lowering the cost of groceries, as if the public’s impressions can be bullied into submission through the force of presidential will.

“The party told you to reject the evidence of your eyes and ears,” George Orwell wrote in his dystopian classic, “1984.” “It was their final, most essential command.”

The relevance of the line lingers for a reason.