A key tenet of the Leopards Consuming Folks’s Faces Celebration meme is the notion that folks don’t pay consideration to what’s promised to them.
President Donald Trump promised to deport all immigrants and to finish birthright citizenship as a result of he thought of all non-white folks to be “illegal,” however many Latinos thought that “he’s only going to deport the criminals.”
He additionally promised to enact job-killing, inflation-spiking tariffs, and folks (together with farmers, who’re most affected) thought that he was simply posturing for negotiations.
Trump promised “pain” on the economic system, and billionaires thought “as long as I get my tax cut, all is good!”
He promised to fireplace the federal workforce, and conservative federal workers thought, “good, there is too much waste, but my federal job is essential!”
He promised to chop trillions from the federal finances, however after all moocher crimson states thought, “spending on us is not wasteful, all the other spending is!”
And Trump promised to raze Gaza and provides Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu carte blanche, however some pro-Palestine people thought that he couldn’t be any worse than “Genocide Joe” and “Killer Kamala.”
However in the long run, none of that basically received Trump the election. Quite, it was only one easy promise that acquired voters on board.
“Starting on Day 1, we will end inflation and make America affordable again,” Trump promised whereas visiting Bozeman, Montana, in August 2024.
“When I win, I will immediately bring prices down, starting on Day 1,” Trump mentioned at a grocery retailer every week later.
A consumer reads an indication concerning the egg scarcity at a grocery retailer on Feb. 9, 2025.
It’s a chorus that he consistently revisited on the marketing campaign path, like in September 2024 when he mentioned, “Groceries, cars—everything. We’re going to get the prices down.”
“I have more complaints on ‘grocery.’ The word ‘grocery.’ You know, it’s a sorta simple word, but it sorta means like everything you eat. The stomach is speaking. It always does. And, uh, I have more complaints about that. Bacon and things going up. Double. Triple. Quadruple,” he mentioned.
However by each potential measure—similar to in just about each free election world wide—inflation was finally the defining issue within the 2024 election.
Simply have a look at the 2024 exit polls, which confirmed that Trump received 76-23% amongst these struggling “severe hardship” attributable to inflation and 52-46% amongst these struggling “moderate hardship.” Amongst these unaffected by inflation, Kamala Harris received 78-21%.
That’s why Trump shockingly received voters who make lower than $50,000, whereas Harris received those that make greater than that—a whole reversal from historic norms, the place Republicans have been the get together of the rich.
Trump received due to the worth of groceries, plain and easy. And what has he carried out since taking workplace? He shit on our alliances, made googly eyes with dictators, renamed the Gulf of Mexico, threatened to take over Greenland, demonized immigrants, indiscriminately fired tens of 1000’s of federal staff, eradicated international help, gone after trans folks, and, all that point, fully ignored something having to do with reducing the price of residing.
In reality, each mass deportations—which remove a supply of low-cost farm labor—and tariffs are extremely inflationary. And Trump’s utter disinterest in really fixing issues has led to the fowl flu decimating egg-laying hens, dramatically elevating the worth of eggs.
In January, the patron value index skilled an sudden hike in costs after Biden had primarily tamed inflation, and that was earlier than Trump’s tariffs and deportations even started to take impact.
And individuals are noticing. Client confidence plunged to an eight-month low, with its largest one-month drop in 3.5 years. When confidence drops, so does spending, which additional strains the economic system. Equally, companies are pulling again investments, which can additional exacerbate financial decline.
A protester holds an indication that reads, “They want 1939 Germany. They’ll get 1789 France.”
Probably taking all that into consideration and extra, the Federal Reserve Financial institution of Atlanta’s financial projections have gone from from 2-3% annualized financial progress, to an almost 3% drop. That’s recession territory, and it places a despair within the realm of prospects.
It’s bleak, notably since now we have a president who doesn’t appear inclined to truly attempt to stop it. He’s satisfied that his tariffs will make America nice, and he’s blissful to economically devastate his nation to show the consultants incorrect.
The inventory market has lastly realized that Trump wasn’t bluffing about his insane tariff plans, and as I write this, the Dow is down 1,300 factors over the past two days.
As for the voters, Trump doesn’t care. He both can’t run for reelection in 2028, or he thinks he can finagle his cherished dictatorship. Both approach, he doesn’t need to concern himself with public opinion.
However his get together? Midterms are subsequent yr, and watching the GOP accede to not simply this disastrous financial and international coverage path but additionally the slashing of the very Medicaid program that’s preserving rural America afloat is sheer madness. Republicans are so beholden to the cult that they’re heading towards the cliff like lemmings—unable or unwilling to deviate from the trail, even for self-preservation.
For all of the noise and bluster, voters heard one factor from Trump throughout election season: that he was going to decrease costs on Day 1. However now Trump isn’t even pretending to satisfy that marketing campaign promise, and he’s actively making the economic system worse.
“They want 1939 Germany. They’ll get 1789 France,” certainly.
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