The emerging GOP message on affordability: Blame Biden — and ‘relax’

President Donald Trump and congressional Republicans are confronting mounting political pressure over an issue that threatens to dominate the coming election cycle: Americans’ persistent struggle with the cost of living.

During his 2024 presidential campaign, Trump promised to revive the economy and end inflation. In office, he has touted his efforts to make everyday life in America more affordable, even calling himself “the affordability president” as recently as Nov. 29.

But that message is colliding with a stubborn political reality. Voters say they are not feeling relief. Polls show widespread skepticism about the administration’s economic record; a recent Politico survey found that 46% of Americans say the cost of living is the worst they’ve ever experienced and that Trump is responsible for it. In last month’s elections, Republican candidates lost out to Democrats who found a winning message on affordability.

Now, even as Trump this week dismissed the affordability furor as a Democratic “hoax,” Republicans seem to have homed in on an affordability message of their own: Blame former President Joe Biden, and — as House Speaker Mike Johnson suggested — “relax.”

“Relax. We are exactly on the trajectory of where we’ve always planned to be,” Johnson said on Thursday. “Steady at the wheel, everybody. It’s gonna be fine. Our best days are ahead of us.”

Vice President JD Vance struck a similar note in his own interview with NBC News. “I think what the president’s saying is the idea that, 11 months into the administration, that we could solve all of the affordability problems created by Democrats — I mean, that’s the hoax,” Vance said. “The hoax is the idea that it’s our fault and not the Democrats’ fault. And I do think that’s a totally bulls— narrative.” 

For his part, the president has dismissed concerns about the cost of living crisis and insisted that he has “brought prices way down, but they’re going lower.” He, too, has tried to punt responsibility for the problem, blaming his predecessor and calling the issue a “con job by the Democrats.” 

“They just say the word,” Trump said on Tuesday. “It doesn’t mean anything to anybody. They just say it — ‘affordability.’ I inherited the worst inflation in history. There was no ‘affordability.’ Nobody could afford anything.”

Despite their attempts at evading responsibility, the cost of living crisis is one that Republicans know they cannot afford to ignore — or blame away entirely. On Tuesday, Trump is scheduled to travel to Pennsylvania, a crucial swing state he won in 2024, to spotlight his efforts on the inflation crisis. 

For an administration that promised to be defined by affordability, the challenge now is convincing voters that the relief they were promised is on its way — even if they can’t feel it yet.