With midterm elections less than ten weeks away, several high-profile Republicans made comments this week that political analysts say could damage the party's standing with voters worried about prices.
President Donald Trump said in an interview Wednesday that the word "affordability" was "devised" by Democrats to disparage him. The Republican National Committee sent out a fundraising text attributed to Vice President JD Vance that said groceries "cost what they cost." Sen. Darline Graham, R-S.C., who won her party's nomination for a full Senate term Tuesday, disparaged federally run universal healthcare before recalling with nostalgia her parents heading to work even when they were sick.
The comments came the same day the Commerce Department released Personal Consumption Expenditures price index data showing prices rose 0.2 percent from June, leaving the annual inflation rate at 3.7 percent. The same report showed inflation-adjusted consumer spending was flat from the prior month, compared with a 0.4 percent gain in June, according to CNBC.
Voters have been consistent about what matters most to them. Respondents to CNBC's most recent All-America Economic Survey ranked the cost of food and groceries as their top concern in this election. Democrats held a 7 percentage point lead over Republicans on handling that issue.
David Paleologos, director of the Suffolk University Political Research Center, was direct in his assessment of the Republican messaging. "Republicans are driving the car straight into an affordability wall at full throttle, and they're yelling that the barrier is just a media hoax," Paleologos said. "Well it's not, it's a barrier, and all the while the tariff policies and the conflicts are actively cutting the brakes."
Paleologos also drew a comparison to Democrats in the last election cycle. "To be fair, the same thing happened in 2024," he said. "[Joe] Biden's people kept talking about the metrics on the dashboard, bragging to voters about horsepower and top speed when the middle class was riding on flat tires."
The Republican National Committee defended the party's record in a statement. "After inheriting four years of Democrats' failed economy, President Trump and Republicans are delivering the comeback Americans voted for: historic tax relief, lower prescription drug prices, critical support for farmers and rural hospitals, and Trump Accounts to give the next generation a financial head start," said RNC spokesman Max Lippel.
Democrats have made cost of living a central message on the campaign trail, where the war with Iran has kept prices elevated. Republicans control both chambers of Congress and face pressure to show voters measurable progress on prices before November.
