White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt has trashed her own party for what she sees as them not doing enough to praise Donald Trump’s handling of the economy.
“As President Trump has been screaming from the rooftops, Republicans need to remain tough, and smart, and they need to be more vocal about telling the accomplishment of this administration,” she told Fox & Friends in an interview Tuesday.
She reeled off a series of figures about the economy after Trump called the focus on affordability a Democratic “hoax.”
“Again, inflation has slowed because of President Trump’s economic policies,” she went on. “We see wages for the first time in five years are increasing by about $1,000 per the average American worker.”
At present, the U.S. economy is showing what experts warn are multiple signs of increasing strain across the board under the second Trump presidency.
GDP growth has slowed sharply, projected to fall from 2.8% in 2024 to roughly 1.6% by the end of this year amid the MAGA president’s ongoing trade war with much of the rest of the planet.
The labor market has also weakened, with payroll growth dropping to historically low levels and unemployment rising to roughly 4.3%.
With the consumer price index currently at 3% on last year, inflation remains persistently high, with lower- and middle-income families particularly affected by rising costs in essentials like energy, utilities and groceries.
Meanwhile Trump had to give $12 billion in bailouts to farmers who had lost out because of his tariffs.
These harsh economic realities have been increasingly reflected in recent polls. Almost half of Americans say the present cost-of-living crisis is the worst they’ve ever seen, with roughly 46 percent of voters saying unaffordability is firmly Trump’s fault, holding at 37 per cent even among those who voted red last year.
As of September, nearly 70 percent of people, more than at any other point in the past 15 years, now believe the “American Dream” of working hard to get ahead “no longer holds true, or never did.”
Those numbers have in turn made themselves felt in surveys of voter intentions ahead of next year’s midterm races.
A November poll by NBC found Democrats are currently ahead of Republicans in the race for control of the House and Senate by a staggering eight points, marking the largest pre-midterm lead for either party in more than six years.
