“Part of President Trump’s power has been his ability to make many people in the United States feel seen and heard,” said Katherine Cramer, a professor of political science at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. “Telling them that the economy is doing fine, when their every day reality tells them otherwise, runs the risk of weakening that power. Particularly for people who aren’t super interested in politics—that is, most people—every day indicators of affordability like gas and grocery prices have a big effect on how well people think the economy is doing.”
Office of Strategic Communication