The Trump administration has found itself in the same place as the Biden administration: Don’t believe your lying eyes. Believe us. Things are actually good. Kevin Hassett can say bankers and the numbers show everything is going great, but Republicans don’t have a counter-narrative to the reality that people are upset about high gas prices and don’t feel comfortable with the economy.
Trump doesn’t want to acknowledge that Iran has leverage over American gas prices. He could say Iran was weak, its neighbors wanted the United States to push it over the edge, and this is what doing that cheaply looks like. He could say Iran is trying to hurt Republicans in the midterms because Democrats would do its bidding. Whether or not that’s true, that’s how you’d sell it. Instead, the administration is stuck in a weird middle ground where Hassett has to keep saying things are good.
