Struggling Americans Are Not Buying the Lies
The affordability crisis is real. So are the frustrations of more and more of us.
Sometimes I wonder whether the things the Trump regime’s henchmen say are a sign they are untethered from reality or if they have learned to lie through their teeth like their boss. Yesterday Todd Blanche, the acting attorney general and Donald Trump’s latest iteration of Roy Cohn, went on Meet the Press and argued for the necessity of voters to show IDs. His logic: “Every time you walk into a restaurant you have to show ID. How about you have to show your ID to vote? That's not anything that's crazy."
Well, actually Todd, in the real world no one shows their ID to get into a restaurant. Are you hoping that the viewers are so stupid that they don’t grasp the fallaciousness of your logic? (Yes, host Kristen Welker just moved on without questioning it, but that’s another matter.)
Maybe Trump’s personal lawyer/head of the Justice Department has drunk so much of the boss’ Kool-Aid that he can no longer separate fact from fiction. I almost feel sorry for the guy (emphasis on “almost”): How could serving a non-stop pathological liar not seriously degrade his capacity to know what is true?
But while the sycophants surrounding Trump may be paddling as hard as they can to justify the continuing madness and the downward spiral caused by his reckless agenda, new polling shows that most Americans are not only not buying the lies, they are bloody tired of the damage he’s causing.
For months Trump has been calling the affordability issue a “hoax” and a “con job”—he even insisted “affordability doesn’t mean anything to anybody”—but his assault on the truth is failing. Nor has it helped that Trump economic geniuses like Kevin Hassett, director of the National Economic Council, called rising gas prices resulting from the war with Iran “the least of our concerns” and recently told CNBC viewers they should “imagine” lower gas prices. The response of Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders: “God help us all.”
But while the recklessly indifferent Trump dithers over the Strait of Hormuz and has no idea how to end his unauthorized, unsupported war of choice, most Americans have reached their conclusions. In a Washington Post-ABC News-Ipsos poll conducted between April 24 and April 28, Americans shared their verdict on how he’s handling his job. That includes 62 percent disapproving how he’s performing as president, the lowest percentage from either term.
The findings also show deep disapproval on how he’s handling key economic issues, including:
76 percent disapproval on cost of living in the U.S.
72 percent disapproval on inflation
66 percent disapproval on the war with Iran
65 percent disapproval on the economy overall
61 percent disapproval on taxes
Since launching the war against Iran in February, as gas prices have surged—gas hit an average of $4.18 a gallon last week, the highest level in four years—support for Trump’s handling of the economy has declined by seven points and his handling of inflation has fallen five points.
Is it any wonder the Trump’s Treasury Secretary, Scott Bessent, was peddling this fantasy yesterday on Fox Business Network’s Sunday Morning Futures? “Oil prices on the other side of this conflict are going to be much lower,” he insisted, despite energy experts saying the damage caused by Trump’s war will keep prices high at least through 2026.
But while Trump and his liars and fantasists desperately try to reshape reality, a Gallup poll taken in the first half of April also illustrates that most Americans are not swallowing what the regime is pushing. Titled “Affordability Still Dominates Americans’ Financial Worries,” Gallup’s report opens like this: “The high cost of living continues to top Americans’ list of the most important financial problems facing their families.”
In fact, a record 55 percent of those surveyed said their financial situation is getting worse, with rising anxiety about paying monthly bills and covering minimum credit card payments. This percentage is the highest since Gallup first asked Americans about their finances in 2001, communicating less optimism than even during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 and the Great Recession in 2008.
While this poll was being taken, though, warrior Trump highlighted his utter disinterest in solving the needs of struggling Americans. “It’s not possible for us to take care of day care, Medicaid, Medicare, all these individual things,” he said at an Easter luncheon, adding, “We have to take care of one thing: military protection.”
So we are told Trump’s America cannot afford to support childcare—and the Republicans cut federal health spending by more than $1 trillion, including significant cuts to Medicaid, Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) and the Affordable Care Act (ACA) marketplaces. Meanwhile, Trump and Pete “Death and Destruction” Hegseth are demanding a 42 percent increase in the military budget to an astronomical $1.5 trillion. Bombs away, says the malignant one aggrieved by his failure to receive a Nobel Peace Prize.
But let’s not linger there: Last week the Congressional Progressive Caucus released a “New Affordability Agenda” that focuses on addressing basic costs, including prescription drugs, groceries, housing, utility bills, gas and childcare. The caucus drew on new polling of likely voters that found strong majorities, including nearly 60 percent of Republicans, want policies focused on lowering prices and confronting corporations and other special interests.
Among the policy proposals:
Make prescription drugs cheaper by establishing a government program to sell generic drugs at a discount.
Make utilities cheaper by cracking down on for-profit utilities overcharging consumers.
Make gas cheaper by charging big oil companies a tax on extra profits because of the war, then refunding that money to consumers.
Make childcare cheaper by guaranteeing no family pays more than 7 percent of its income, which translates to less than $10 a day for most families.
Make housing cheaper by building millions of new homes and offering first-time homeowners $20,000 in downpayment assistance.
Make groceries cheaper by cracking down on big grocers who fix prices and on companies that abuse seed patents to make farming more expensive.
Abolish Super PACs exploited by billionaires to push policies that make everyday life more unaffordable.
Policies like these need not be merely aspirational. But that depends on the Democrats taking back majorities in both the House and the Senate. If the aforementioned polling accurately captures the frustration that most Americans are feeling—and I think it does—and that frustration translates into massive turnout in November and again in 2028, then such policies could make a real difference.
The arrival of this agenda, backed up by motivated voters, is a reminder that America can avoid continuing to spiral downward into a place of cruelty and corruption, a place led by hostile Republicans unconcerned by the real struggles of people.
One last note, courtesy of the new Washington Post-ABC News-Ipsos poll. By a 49 to 44 percent advantage, respondents said they would vote for a Democrat in their district if the election were held today. Among those “absolutely certain” to vote, the advantage grows from five points to nine points.
These findings are underscored by a notable enthusiasm gap between Democrats and Republicans indicating whether the 2026 midterms are more important than previous ones. While 73 percent of Democrats said yes, only 52 percent of Republicans did. And while six in 10 Democrats say these midterm elections are “much more important,” only a third of Republicans said the same.
It’s another 183 days until the midterms. Many things can happen in six months. Trump’s lies will likely accelerate. But we have the power to decide our fate and slow the transgressions of a regime that despises our democracy and fails to represent the people.
The existence of America, America depends on the support of readers like you. If you are a regular reader or a new one, I hope you’ll decide that now’s the time to become a paid subscriber, be it for $50 a year just $5 a month. This helps sustain the work, not beholden to any owner and therefore free to speak truth to power without fear or favor.
I see it every day in my rural community, and the dichotomy between the “haves” and “have-nots.” The ability of the average or lower-wage American to survive this ongoing economic onslaught is unlikely.
And yet…so many are sleepwalking, deliberately or not, as this deliberate dismantling of the American economic engine…the middle class…continues.
“We have met the enemy and he is us.”
Well, Project Freedom, Trump's bid to have our Navy escort "neutral" ships out of the Strait of Hormuz, should put gasoline on the voters' fire. That "plan" is a recipe for disaster. Iran isn't going to let that happen and we will be back into a shooting war. Don't be surprised if Trump orders troops on the ground. We've got 50,000 soldiers/sailors in the region now, idling. What a shit show. My point is that this will so exacerbate the affordability crisis in America that those numbers in the 60% - 70% disapproval will move to the 80s%. One caveat is that people would be holding their nose to vote for Democrats. They'd do it, take that car for a spin, but if the Dems don't get their acts together and soon, they will have squandered one of the greatest political opportunities in our history. I firmly believe we will sweep the midterms, take both houses. But the prize is 2028. We have to earn the votes, with sweat, purpose and conviction. The policy proposals you cited are good, not great. Surely we can produce a Project 2029 with better heft and efficiency that Project 2025 has used to reconstruct government (with the help of SCOTUS.) Surely we can fashion an agenda that balances the needs of the people with our budget-minded (hello? The Debt) means to provide for them. Surely we can Make America Breathe Again.