Last week, Donald Trump apparently saw Charlamagne Tha God, a prominent radio host and author, appear on Fox News, and the president was unimpressed. In fact, he published an item to his social media platform in which he called the media figure “a Low IQ individual” and “a dope.”
To bolster his case, Trump argued, among other things, that Charlamagne didn’t appear to know that his White House is responsible for “creating the greatest economy, where prices and Inflation have come way down.”
Putting aside the racist implications of Trump repeatedly referring to people of color as low-IQ, the president’s boasts were demonstrably wrong. The current U.S. economy clearly isn’t the “greatest,” and the idea that he and his administration have brought inflation “way down” is routinely contradicted by reality.
Consider the latest report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The New York Times reported that the White House’s trade tariffs have “intensified price pressures across a wider range of consumer goods and services.” From the article:
The Consumer Price Index stayed steady at 2.7 percent compared to the same time last year. On a monthly basis, prices rose 0.2 percent from June. But an important gauge tracking consumer prices that strips out volatile food and energy prices accelerated more rapidly. ‘Core’ C.P.I., which is closely watched by the [Federal Reserve], jumped 0.3 percent over the course of the month, or 3.1 percent on a year-over-year basis. That is one of the largest monthly increases so far this year and represents the fastest annual pace in five months.
We can only hope that Trump doesn’t start firing the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ acting leadership because it released data he didn’t like.
All joking aside, the gap between the president’s assurances and the real-world evidence is quickly growing into a chasm. Two weeks ago, for example, the Republican sat down with New York Post columnist Miranda Devine and made a rather specific claim — not only about the key economic issue, but about his perceived successes.
“You know, if you think, inflation, I’ve already taken care of,” the president said. “Prices are way down for everything — groceries, everything.”
But grocery prices are up, not down, and inflation obviously hasn’t been “taken care of.” Indeed, the latest BLS data isn’t the only relevant piece of evidence. The public also recently saw the Consumer Price Index climb unexpectedly, amid signs that Trump’s tariffs were pushing prices higher. Soon after, the Commerce Department reported the Personal Consumption Expenditures price index — a metric that’s closely watched by the Federal Reserve for evidence of inflation — is also climbing, and as The New York Times reported, the data represented “the latest sign that President Trump’s tariffs are starting to bleed through into consumer prices.” It’s something to consider the next time he pretends he pushed inflation “way down.” This post updates our related earlier coverage.
Steve Benen is a producer for "The Rachel Maddow Show," the editor of MaddowBlog and an MS NOW political contributor. He's also the bestselling author of "Ministry of Truth: Democracy, Reality, and the Republicans' War on the Recent Past."
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