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Donald Trump has said that claims of an affordability crunch in the US are a “con job” and “hoax” perpetuated by Democrats as rising prices become a growing political liability for Republicans.
The US president on Wednesday doubled down on his claim that prices are falling across the country as he pushed back against voter frustration over the cost of living that is eroding his polling numbers.
“Just about everything is down,” Trump said, as he announced a rollback of fuel economy standards. “They use the word affordability — it’s a Democrat hoax. They’re the ones who drove the prices up.”
“I think affordability is the greatest con job,” he added. “They look at you and they say affordability. They don’t say anything else.”
Cost of living strains have been thrust into focus in recent local elections, with Democrats winning races in New York, New Jersey and Virginia following campaigns that focused on the issue.
The party also outperformed expectations in a Tennessee special election this week after its candidate highlighted rising prices.
Trump’s approval rating has slipped from more than 50 per cent when he retook office to 42.4 per cent, according to the latest polling average from Real Clear Politics. Voters repeatedly cite inflation as their primary concern.
The political challenge around affordability marks a stark reversal for the president, who focused on the high cost of living in last year’s presidential election campaign.
Voter anger over rampant inflation under former president Joe Biden — it surged as high as 9 per cent during his term — proved a political asset to Trump, who vowed to “immediately bring prices down” if re-elected.
The overall cost of some goods such as eggs and petrol has come down since the president retook office. But rising prices for other groceries, shelter and electricity helped keep inflation at 3 per cent in September, according to the latest figures from the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Inflation fell during the first few months of Trump’s return to the White House but, fuelled in part by his sweeping tariff regime, it has crept back up and is now higher than it was in Biden’s last full month in office.
The cumulative increase for most goods has taken its toll on consumers, prompting frustration among poorer Americans in particular as the wealth gap widens across the country.
The president has responded by claiming on multiple occasions that prices have fallen — drawing criticism from members of his Republican party.
Georgia congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene, a former close ally of the president, last month said he was “gaslighting” people by claiming prices were falling.
Trump has implemented a host of policies in an effort to curb rising prices. As well as Wednesday’s announcement on fuel standards, which he said would lower costs for motorists, he has rolled back some of his tariffs on imports such as beef and coffee and struck deals with pharmaceutical companies over certain drug prices.
One of his trademark policies to tackle inflation has been to unshackle the US oil and gas industry by loosening regulations. Petrol prices are down about 1.3 per cent since the same time last year, according to motoring club AAA.
