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A version of this article first appeared in the “Reliable Sources” newsletter. You can sign up for free here. President Trump said Thursday that “I don’t want to hear about the affordability.” The comment — which instantly became prime-time cable fodder — came in the middle of a meandering and misleading response to a question from Fox News correspondent Jacqui Heinrich. “Groceries are way down. Everything is way down,” Trump falsely claimed. “And the press doesn’t report it. The press reports whatever the con people say. You know, I call the Democrats con men and women. They make up numbers.” It’s easy enough for Trump to blame the press when he is in a Q&A session with reporters. It’s harder when he’s hearing from a voter who is struggling. That’s why this was an especially savvy move by Fox News anchor Bret Baier on Wednesday. Baier used his access to Trump, on the sidelines of a business forum in Miami, to read a message from Regina Foley, a retiree in Greensboro, North Carolina. Foley told Baier that she was a three-time Trump voter who was worried about the GOP losing control of Congress next year. “Something has to be done fast,” Foley wrote to Baier. “I don’t see the best economy right now. Wall Street numbers do not reflect my Main Street money. Please do something, President Trump.” Her concern about the cost of living was tellingly framed as a political problem, not an economic or moral one. However, it hit right at the theme of the off-year elections earlier this week. As Axios put it Friday morning, “The affordability crisis, once Biden’s, is now Trump’s.” Trump’s non-answer to Foley’s concern (he said prices are “down already,” and the “biggest problem is Republicans don’t talk about it”) made waves on social media. On Baier’s Instagram page, commenters said things like “Our groceries are not down” and “Why don’t you come shopping?” The exchange underscored that the press is most effective when it is really, directly channeling the public. Fuzzy Walmart math Trump’s ability to talk some people into believing up is down, with the assistance of the right-wing media machine, has been central to his political success. And his “affordability” comments this week suggest that he sees it as a messaging problem. The president’s new favorite thing to tout is Walmart’s promotional Thanksgiving meal basket being 25% cheaper than last year. CNN’s Daniel Dale looked into it and explained that the basket’s contents are markedly different this year. ‘Don’t believe your eyes’ GOP radio host Erick Erickson offered some tough love for his party yesterday. “Grocery prices are going up. And now Republicans are perversely doing the same thing Democrats did when they were in office with Joe Biden, saying, ‘No, actually, don’t believe your eyes at the grocery store, prices are coming down!’” Erickson said on his syndicated radio show. “That’s not helpful to Americans who are feeling higher grocery costs right now, which is actually happening. The Republicans have gotta figure this out.”
