At his latest town-hall-style event, Donald Trump was asked by a woman in Michigan how, in a second term, he’d bring down the cost of groceries. The former president responded with a great many words, including comments about windmills, though he didn’t quite get around to answering the question directly.
To the extent that there was a kernel of an idea in the Republican’s response, Trump suggested that he expected to lower food costs for consumers by restricting food imports, which really doesn’t make any sense.
This was not, however, an isolated incident. The GOP candidate also fielded some voters’ questions in Wisconsin a few weeks ago and was asked about how he’d lower consumer prices. Trump struggled to answer then, too.
Three weeks before that, he also fielded questions from voters at the Sturgis Motorcycle Rally in South Dakota, one of whom asked about high consumer prices. Trump initially responded by talking about his popularity among those at the event, before suggesting that oil drilling — which the United States is already doing at record levels — will solve everyone’s troubles.
In other words, Trump has faced variations of the same question three times in two months, and in each instance, he’s struggled to present voters with coherent answers.
Why is that? Putting aside the obvious fact that the former president doesn’t know or care about public policy, there are three elements to keep in mind.
The first is that inflation rates are already falling, putting Trump at a disadvantage: He’s vowing to make progress on an issue on which the country is already seeing progress.
The second is that the Republican nominee simply doesn’t have anything resembling a credible plan related to consumer costs. Trump has presented a handful of bumper-sticker-style slogans, and he’s talked about asking others to help him come up with ideas he lacks,
Finally, there’s the inconvenient fact that Trump’s agenda includes a variety of priorities that would almost certainly make inflation worse — as economists keep trying to tell the public.
Keep this in mind the next time the GOP candidate flubs the same question, which will probably be soon.
