Trump torches Dems’ ‘fake affordability’ pitch – but GOP panic in deep red state hints voters aren’t buying it
In a recent Cabinet meeting, President Donald Trump vehemently criticized the Democratic Party’s messaging around “affordability,” labeling it a deceptive tactic that fails to resonate with voters. He argued that the term has been weaponized by Democrats to obscure the reality of economic hardship, particularly in the wake of what he described as the worst inflation crisis in American history, which he claims he inherited from the Biden administration. Trump emphasized that while Democrats tout “affordability,” many Americans are grappling with soaring prices and economic challenges. He pointed out that his administration has worked to lower costs for citizens through strategic trade policies and job creation efforts, asserting that energy prices, for instance, have seen significant reductions under his watch.
The context of Trump’s remarks comes in the aftermath of the 2025 election cycle, where Democratic candidates, including the newly elected socialist mayor of New York City, Zohran Mamdani, successfully campaigned on affordability issues. This theme resonated particularly in states like New Jersey and Virginia, where voters cited economic concerns as their top priorities. As Trump prepares for a special election in Tennessee, where Republican candidate Matt Van Epps faces off against Democratic nominee Aftyn Behn—who has also adopted affordability as a key campaign message—the tension between the two parties is palpable. Polls indicate a tight race, with both sides mobilizing their bases in anticipation of the upcoming 2026 midterm elections.
As the political landscape shifts, Trump’s strategy appears to be flipping the narrative on affordability, positioning it as a point of contention against Democrats. He has rallied support for Van Epps, framing the Tennessee race as a crucial battleground that could signal broader trends for future elections. The stakes are high, as both parties recognize that the outcome could influence voter sentiment heading into the midterms, making Tennessee an unexpected focal point in the ongoing political struggle over economic messaging and voter priorities.
President
Donald Trump
unleashed on Democrats for their “affordability” messaging that drove support for left-wing candidates in the 2025 election cycle, calling it a “fake narrative” that “doesn’t mean anything to anybody.”
“You just say it. Affordability. I inherited the worst inflation in history. There was no affordability. Nobody could afford anything. The prices were massively high,” Trump said Tuesday during his administration’s monthly Cabinet meeting – the final such meeting for 2025.
“But the word affordability is a con job by the Democrats,” Trump continued.
The Cabinet meeting marked Trump’s ninth in his second term, matching the number of all the full Cabinet meetings former President Joe Biden held during his four years in the Oval Office.
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Affordability was the top campaign platform for the handful of high-profile elections held last month during the off-year cycle. Democrats emerged from the 2025 election cycle victorious, including socialist candidate Zohran Mamdani notching a win to become the next mayor of New York City, as well as Democrats winning the only two gubernatorial elections this year, which were held in Virginia and New Jersey.
In New Jersey, voters reported that the state’s notoriously high taxes and the
economy
were their top issues heading into the polling stations, according to Fox News Voter Poll data last month. In Virginia, half of voters reported that the economy was their top issue, more than double the number who reported healthcare as their top concern, according to Fox polling data.
In New York City, affordability was by far voters’ top concern in the notoriously expensive Big Apple, according to previous Fox News Voter Poll data.
This week, left-wing Democrats and Republicans are in a fierce battle to win a congressional seat in Tennessee where the Democratic nominee, known as the “AOC of Tennessee,” is building support among voters in the deep red state.
Trump railed during the Cabinet meeting that his administration is lowering prices for citizens after inheriting “the worst inflation in history” under the Biden administration, including by making massive deals with foreign industries to create jobs in the U.S. and his tariff policies that aim to bring parity to the U.S.’ chronic trade deficit with foreign countries.
“Our prices now for energy, but for gasoline, are really low. Electricity is coming down. And when that comes down, everything comes down. But the word affordability is a Democrat scam. They say it and then they go into the next subject and everyone thinks, ‘Oh, they had lower prices.’ No, they had the worst inflation in the history of our country,” Trump continued.
In
Tennessee
, Trump, House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., and other high-profile Republicans have made a mad dash to rally support for Trump-backed congressional candidate
Matt Van Epps
as he faces off against Democratic Tennessee state Rep.
Aftyn Behn,
who has been compared to socialist politicians, including Mamdani and New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.
The Tennessee race is a special election to fill Republican Rep. Mark Green’s seat in the 7th Congressional District following his resignation from Congress in July. Republicans have previously easily won the seat in the deep red state, but recent left-wing wins during November’s elections built Democratic momentum to flip the seat blue.
Johnson headlined rallies in the state for Van Epps and Trump called into rallies, as well as posted social media messages promoting that Tennessee voters reject the Democrat candidate.
“The whole world is watching Tennessee right now, and they’re watching the district,” Trump said during one call.
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Polls suggest a close contest between Van Epps and Behn in a race that will again serve as a bellwether ahead of the highly anticipated 2026 midterm races.
Behn, similar to her Democrat colleagues in November’s elections, has made affordability one of her top campaign platforms.
“Angry about high grocery prices? Worried about health care costs? Feeling burned by tariffs? Then Dec. 2 is your day to shake up Washington,” she said in her campaign’s final ad.
“That struggling to afford groceries, healthcare, and rent is the life we have to accept,” Behn wrote in a Substack post in November. “We have the opportunity through this election to tell those in power that we’re done begging for crumbs, we’re done being sold out, and we’ve had it with the cost of living and the chaos.”
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Meanwhile, Democrats such as Ocasio-Cortez and former Vice President Al Gore have backed Behn’s campaign, making Tennessee an unlikely epicenter for another campaign showdown that pits a left-wing candidate promoting affordability against a Republican.
When asked about Democrats’ affordability messaging and if Trump’s messaging is falling flat with voters considering the Tennessee race, the White House argued Democrats don’t have “have a leg to stand on when it comes to affordability.”
“The idea that Democrats, who spent four years during the Biden presidency creating the worse inflation crisis in a generation, have a leg to stand on when it comes to affordability is beyond laughable. Americans remember how President Trump’s agenda created historic job, wage, and economic growth during his first term, and Americans know that this same agenda is again restoring working-class prosperity in President Trump’s second term,” White House spokesman Kush Desai told Fox Digital.
Fox News Digital’s Paul Steinhauser contributed to this report.
