President Donald Trump is accustomed to receiving love and abject loyalty from his MAGA base, no matter what he says or does, even if most Americans know it’s not true or worse, even illegal. But he came face-to-face with a stark reality at a rally in ruby-red Kentucky.
The president was trying to project strength and confidence to his supporters Wednesday, March 11, during campaign stops in Ohio and Kentucky, even as his ongoing and deadly war in Iran has sent energy prices through the roof and rocked global financial markets.
But it seems his conservative base is beginning to splinter as critics contend Trump is so out of touch with average Americans that even his supporters can’t ignore it anymore.
And that was the message he heard loud and clear when he began crowing about how significantly he’s lowered prices and how the country is so much better off under his leadership over the past year.
“Under our policies, prices for chicken, eggs, cheese, butter, potatoes and fresh fruit are lower today by a lot than when I took office,” Trump disingenuously insisted to his supporters in Hebron, part of GOP Congressman Thomas Massie’s northern Kentucky district.
A side note here, Trump deliberately went to Hebron to endorse Massie’s challenger Ed Gallrein, after Massie helped pass legislation mandating the release of the Epstein files, where Trump is mentioned more than 4,000 times.
“Hotel rates, automobile prices, and rent payments are way down, as well as a result of my direction to purchase $200 billion in mortgage bonds, a risky move, perhaps, but not for me,” Trump continued boasting.
“Mortgage rates are now the lowest in more than five years, and the annual cost of a typical new mortgage is down almost $5,000,” the president insisted.
Trump’s statements were stunning, as if middle- and lower-income Americans don’t know how hard they’re being squeezed by the president’s policies that have mostly benefitted his wealthy billionaire friends, or they don’t know what they’re paying for food and utilities.
The brash Trump was met with a deafening and embarrassing silence from his MAGA base, no joyful cheering and flag-waving when he spoke about his economic accomplishments, although to be fair, people still turned up in red MAGA hats and merch.
A social media uproar followed, lashing out at Trump’s remarks on the economy and the cold shoulder from MAGA.
“Omg, Suddenly the cult STOPPED CLAPPING! They actually were listening to his lies & not agreeing with the orange sleazo!,” an X user proclaimed.
But that wasn’t all the sharp-eyed posters noticed.
“Folks are bored. Arms crossed. Checking they phones..,” another noted.
It’s true. The crowd behind Trump just stood and watched him, some with arms crossed, others literally scrolling on their devices.
“I surely don’t see happy faces; not hearing crazed crowds clapping and cheering with his lying statements. He’s sweating like the pig he is…That orange s–t on his face must be shellacked on,” this X user chimed in.
Former Republican Congressman Joe Walsh joined in on the uproar and did not mince words in his post after Trump’s gaslighting on the economy.
“We’ve never, ever had this before. A President completely untethered to truth,” Walsh wrote in a post on X. “I mean completely untethered to truth. That’s such a bad thing. But you know what’s even worse? Way, way too many people don’t care. And way too much of the media no longer cares.”
Fact-checks on Trump’s claims on the economy reveal the truth.
While the president did preside over lower gas prices over the past year, they have risen more than 50 cents in the past two weeks since he launched his war in Iran, from $2.94 to $3.59 a gallon, according to Triple A.
The price of a used car has decreased a tiny bit, by 1 percent, since he retook office last January. Food is up by 2 percent, housing has increased by 3.4 percent, utility prices have spiked by 6.3 percent in just 12 months, health care has risen by 3.2 percent and the cost of clothing jumped almost 2 percent, according to numbers reported by PBS.
