President Trump argued Monday that concerns over the rising cost of certain goods are being fueled by a Democratic “con job.”
The president made the remark after being asked by Fox News host Laura Ingraham if the anxiety over the economy and rising prices – a top issue for voters in New Jersey, Virginia and New York, where Republicans suffered defeats in last week’s elections – was a “perception issue” or if more needed to be done by GOP lawmakers to address it.
“More than anything else, it’s a con job by the Democrats,” Trump said during his appearance on “The Ingraham Angle.”
The president claimed Democrats “feed” false information about the economy to network and cable news outlets, who run with it and scare voters.
“They do exactly what they say,” Trump said of television news anchors. “It’s such a rigged system.”
Ingraham asked Trump if he was arguing that voters were “misconceiving how they feel” about the economy.
“They’re being fed a con job,” the president doubled down.
Ingraham pointed out that while some costs, including the price of eggs and gasoline, have come down under his administration, the prices of other goods, like beef, coffee and auto repair services, have gone up.
“Sure, but they’re going to come down very shortly,” Trump responded.
“So are you ready?” the president continued. “Costs are way down. Gasoline is going to be hitting $2 pretty soon … it was at $4.50 under [former President Joe] Biden.”
Trump further argued that “everybody agrees” the cost of energy has come down since he took office.
Ingraham later noted that “housing costs are still out of reach” for many Americans, a problem Trump blamed on his predecessor.
“I inherited that,” he shot back, later adding, “the problem was that Biden did this.”
“He increased the interest rates and I have a lousy Fed person who’s going to be gone in a few months,” Trump added, referring to Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell.
“I don’t know that they are saying that,” Trump said of polling showing Americans anxious about the economy. “I think polls are fake.”
“We have the greatest economy we’ve ever had,” he asserted.
