By any objective standard, the American economy was the envy of the world on the date of the election. The misery index was at a paltry six percent. The markets were riding high. Inflation had fallen almost to the Fed’s two percent target. Interest rates were coming down, and real wages were going up. And yet, Trump and the GOP prevailed on the basis that the economy was terrible. Why?
Part of it, of course, was lived experience with inflation prior to 2024. Part of it was the assumption on the part of poorly informed Americans that their pay increase was due purely to merit and rising prices to the failures of their government. But a big part of it was the result of the message one heard every night on the national news, and not just on Fox. The MSM constantly reminded us that inflation was out of control and did little to put that story into a larger narrative of worldwide supply chain problems, rising wages, and low unemployment. The public consequently responded by telling pollsters that their own finances were fine, but economic conditions as a whole were awful. Biden and Harris never found a way to deal with that attitude.
What will the MSM tell us about the Trump economy? Will they use today’s conditions as a baseline, or put on a parade of witnesses to tell us that things are so much better than they were in 2022, and Trump deserves the credit?
We’ll see.