Republicans focused their attention on inflation and President Joe Biden’s economy on Monday night at the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
The economy, suffering from the worst inflation in four decades, is a key weakness for incumbent President Joe Biden. Surveys show Americans are deeply dissatisfied with Biden’s economic leadership and do not trust his economic agenda to improve their households’ financial situation or the country’s.
“They have imposed what Ronald Reagan called the cruelest tax on the poor: inflation,” said Rep. Wesley Hunt (R-TX) in a speech to the convention. “Today, 65 percent of Americans are living paycheck to paycheck because the dollar is worth less and less every day.”
The economy and inflation are top-of-mind issues for voters, according to polls. Americans are far more likely to say they trust former President Donald Trump and Republicans to deal with inflation than Biden and Democrats.
In his speech, Hunt pointed out that grocery and energy prices have soared under Biden.
“Average Americans are spending $4,300 more on energy bills,” Hunt said, describing inflation as a “Democrat disaster.”
Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) connected the issue of inflation to immigration, another key weakness for the Biden administration.
“The Democrats ripped open our borders and allowed millions of illegal aliens to pour in, driving up the costs of housing and health care while slashing American wages and eliminating jobs,” Greene said.
Sen. Tim Scott (R-SC) had a similar message.
“This is a difficult time for our nation. Inflation is crushing families. Illegal immigration is crushing American workers,” Scott said.
Virginia Gov. Glenn Younkin (R) said that the convention was focused on inflation because it is a “tough conversation” that many Americans face:
The conversation young families from Midlothian, Virginia, to Milwaukee, Wisconsin, whose dreams of buying a home have been shattered by seven-and-a-half percent mortgage rates. The veterans from Fredericksburg, Virginia, to Phoenix, Arizona, whose raises can’t keep up with 30 percent increases in grocery prices and 40 percent increases in gas. The retirees from Roanoke, Virginia, to Reno, Nevada, whose fixed income has been crushed by the silent thief of inflation unleashed by Joe Biden and Kamala Harris.
Sen. Katie Britt (R-AL) said that Biden’s policies had made life “that much more difficult and way more expensive”:
Under Biden-Harris, prices are high, and expectations are low. Grocery prices are up more than 21 percent. Electricity is up 31 percent. Gas is up 48 percent. Mortgage rates have more than doubled, and rent is skyrocketing. To me, these aren’t just numbers; this is pain for millions of Americans.
There were also some moments of levity.
“Under President Donald J. Trump, we had an economy so good that Democrats were trying to give Obama the credit for it,” said Rep. John James (R-MI).
