Democrats are trying to convince the public that the economy, including persistent inflation, is no longer President Joe Biden’s but that of President Donald Trump.
But that messaging is complicated by the perception that Republicans are better at managing the economy than Democrats, and a lack of trust voters currently have in the Democratic Party overall.
Democrats could leverage an economic message against Trump and Republicans before next year’s midterm elections, according to Democratic strategist Stefan Hankin, quipping that the “key word” is “could.”
“It can’t be based on going back to what was,” Hankin told the Washington Examiner. “Has to be forward-looking and speaking to how younger people are getting screwed, how the tax system needs to be completely overhauled, and that we need to be in a place where people can afford to live their lives.”
After attempting to undermine Trump for his administration’s mismanagement of the Jeffrey Epstein files, Democrats are more sharply criticizing the president over the economy after wholesale prices were reported last week to have increased by 3.3% in the year ending July, the largest 12-month rise since February, as parents prepare to send their children back to school.
“To paraphrase President Ronald Reagan, I think it’s time to ask: do you honestly feel better off today than you were at the beginning of the year?” embattled Democratic National Committee Chairman Ken Martin wrote in an opinion piece published Monday by Fox News.
Martin, whose leadership of the DNC has been scrutinized as the party struggles to react to last year’s presidential election loss, conceded that Democrats have also encountered difficulties convincing the public to entrust them with the economy over Republicans.
“In fact, we did some research the other month and found the number one word associated with the Democratic Party was ‘weak,’” he wrote. “It matters what people think. Between now and the midterm elections, our job – my job – is to make the case why your life would be better with Democrats in charge.”
Martin’s opinion piece coincides with Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) telling Politico on Monday that Senate Democrats are “on the same page” regarding their priority for their August recess: to “make sure people know why the electric bills are going up.” It also comes after the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee told the Washington Examiner last week it was launching a four-figure digital advertising campaign in the districts of 35 House Republicans with competitive races next year that claim Trump’s One Big Beautiful Bill has exacerbated the cost of living, “everything from healthcare to utility bills.”
“House Republicans promised to lower costs on ‘Day One,’ but instead voted to jack up costs on food, healthcare, and electricity bills so they could bankroll tax breaks for the wealthy and well-connected,” DCCC spokesman Viet Shelton told the Washington Examiner at the time. “The DCCC is making sure that every battleground voter knows that House Republicans and their One, Big, Ugly Law are the reason that life is getting more expensive for everyday Americans, and will hold them accountable in 2026.”
Democrats’ economic messaging, which party operatives argue has always underpinned their overarching strategy, not Epstein, dovetails with Trump’s eroding approval related to the economy and inflation. In addition, Trump has escalated his attacks on Federal Reserve Board Chairman Jermone Powell over Powell not lowering interest rates. Powell is expected to speak during the annual Jackson Hole Economic Symposium in Wyoming on Friday.
To that end, Trump’s average economic approval is 43% approve-54% disapprove, or net negative 12 percentage points, while it is 39% approve-59% disapprove, or net negative 21 points, with respect to inflation. For context, the president’s general approval is 46% approve-51% disapprove, or net negative 5 points.
In response, Trump has reiterated that he is grappling with Biden’s economy, including in Fox News interviews conducted before and after last week’s summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
“I inherited a mess from Biden with the economy, with inflation, with high taxes, with so many other things,” the president told Bret Baier on Friday.
Democrats have largely been struggling to regain voter trust following their devastating losses in the 2024 election, with 63% of voters having an unfavorable view of the party, according to a recent Wall Street Journal poll.
During last year’s election, Trump undercut Biden and then former Vice President Kamala Harris with their shared economic record, particularly after year-on-year consumer prices increased to 9.1% in June 2022, the largest yearly rise since November 1981. Two years later on Election Day, Trump had a 7-point edge over Harris when voters were asked who they trusted more with the economy, 53%-46%, according to exit polls.
However, July’s producer price index report, released last week, found that month-on-month wholesale prices increased by 0.9%, the largest monthly rise since June 2022. The Bureau of Labor Statistics also reported last week that the consumer price index increased by 0.2% in July and 2.7% for the year.
Shai Akabas, the Bipartisan Policy Center’s vice president of economic policy, underscored that predictions of “dramatic” inflation under Trump have not materialized yet, but “there are reasons to be concerned about where inflation is headed.”
“PPI — which is often a leading indicator for consumer prices — came in hot last week,” Akabas told the Washington Examiner. “Core CPI is already around 3%, and the PPI news could indicate that CPI is likely to push higher at the same time the Fed is facing pressure to cut interest rates.”
Akabas added: “Businesses’ margins are increasingly getting squeezed, and there are some signs that they may soon be passing along more costs to consumers, but we will have to wait and see where the data leads in the remainder of the year.”
New York University economics professor Mark Gertler agreed that the inflation “picture” under Trump is “not completely clear” and that “we need more data.”
“Core CPI inflation is running about 3% year-over-year, above the Fed’s 2% target,” Gertler told the Washington Examiner. “Unfortunately, in the coming months, the tariffs are likely to push inflation further above target, likely somewhere in the 3 to 3.5% range. Add to this the recent jump in producer prices, then one can make the case that inflationary pressures are building.”
Acting Heritage Foundation economic policy studies director Richard Stern acknowledged “inflation is certainly higher than everybody would like it to be,” but distanced Trump from the issue.
“At the end of the day, it really is the result of, at some level, decades of federal government mismanagement and new things that were done under Biden that made it much worse,” Stern told the Washington Examiner.
But when pressed on Trump’s record of government spending during his first administration, which approved $8.8 trillion of gross new borrowing during his first term, according to the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget, Stern responded that the president “pushed for no spending increases both times as president” and that “tax deficits from tax cuts are not the same as spending increases.”
“It’s Congress, and decades of policies that are untouched by Congress that create spending that is untenable,” he said.
TRUMP CENTRALIZES POWER, CONSOLIDATES CONTROL OVER HIS SECOND-TERM AGENDA
The White House similarly dismissed Democrats’ economic messaging, asserting Democrats spent four years ‘circling back on’ and gaslighting Americans on inflation being ‘transitory’ during… Biden’s autopen presidency.”
“They are the absolute last group of people on planet earth to now try pouncing on inflation – especially when President Trump’s policies have delivered real wage growth and lowered the costs of gas, eggs, and other essentials for the American people,” White House spokesman Kush Desai told the Washington Examiner.