The Numbers Don't Lie

     ...but someone continues to.

     Yesterday, Trump whined and raged on Truth Social that people weren't giving him enough credit for the economy. This is to be expected, since Trump is as incapable of changing as the images on a threadbare piece of Super 8 film. Trump's always whining about not getting enough credit, enough attention, enough praise. He's like a spoiled kid who whines that the party clown is getting more attention than him at his birthday party then pops his balloon animals.

     But this seemed to be in response to an AP-NORC survey that showed his numbers were at their alltime lowest. Specifically, it showed that his approval numbers on the economy were at 31%, down nine points since March. And, for once, Trump is paying attention to unfavorable numbers. 

    “When will Polls reflect the Greatness of America at this point in time, and how bad it was just one year ago?” he whined. "I inherited a MESS from the Biden Administration — The Worst Inflation in History, and the Highest Prices our Country has ever seen. In other words, Affordability, just 13 months ago, was a DISASTER for the American People, but now, it’s totally different! Prices are coming down FAST, Energy, Oil and Gasoline, are hitting five year lows, and the Stock Market today just hit an All Time High. Tariffs are bringing in Hundreds of Billions of Dollars, and we are respected as a Nation again."

     Then he held his breath until he passed out while the other kids walked over him and clustered around the party clown.

     Very little of what Trump said, of course, is moored to reality. The only thing that was true was that gas and oil prices are coming down to pandemic levels but that was largely on account of his sledgehammering of the economy during the pandemic.

     In reality, Trump inherited a strong and robust economy from the Biden administration and, typical of Republicans, then proceeded to fuck it up. And while the stock market may be surging right now, a bull market on Wall Street has little to no impact on Main Street. Just over 50% of Americans own stocks but most of those stocks are held by the 1%.

     And voters aren't totally stupid, even MAGA voters. Americans tend to vote on kitchen table issues and with their wallets. They were fed the usual bullshit by Trump when he was on the campaign trail last year. They actually believed they were worse off under Biden than they were four years earlier when Trump was running roughshod over the economy.

     But everyone has to buy food and if grocery bills are higher now than they were four years ago, people will notice it. Beef prices, for example, are through the roof. I went to my local supermarket just yesterday and couldn't believe the price of meat. One pound of lean ground beef should not nor should ever cost anywhere near $10, yet that's what people are paying.

     And Trump's insistence that he should get credit for this fictional economy and his rage at the numbers shows he doesn't respect the opinions of the American people. Surveys and polls are ways in which people tell others what they think and believe. He showed a similar disregard for our opinions when he resisted the 2020 election results and insisted the election was rigged. Then he started a riot that got nine people killed.

     But it's not just the economy in which he's failing. Trump's also losing support in droves among minority communities, particularly Hispanic and Black voters. The recent elections in New Jersey, Virginia, New York City and, most recently, Miami (In which Eileen Higgins won by nearly 20 points and became the first Democrat elected mayor in Miami in nearly three decades) are showing that Trump's support among major demographics is slipping.

     These aren't outliers but the shape of things to come. 

     For instance, in the Virginia gubernatorial election, won by Abigail Spanberger, Hispanic voters moved away from the GOP by 15% and Black voters 13%. And in New Jersey, the shift was much more dramatic.

     Latinos deserted the GOP by 24% and Black voters: 28%.

     No wonder Republicans are shitting their pants in advance of next year's midterms.

     These recent election results aren't mere isolated incidents. They show a depth and breadth of a shift in public opinion that spans not only different states but different regions. And, in ruby red Indiana, Trump failed miserably to change their electoral map that would've stolen the sole two seats held by congressional Democrats when the Indiana Senate voted to not redraw the map.

     People are moving on from this second great MAGA experiment which, like the first, only promises doom and destruction. Democrats will take back the House and they stand a better than even chance of retaking the Senate, as well, Trump is sweating over the prospect of a third impeachment and, with his crumbling support in the Senate, he's understandably fearing he'll get ejected from office.

     Because three's the charm, as they say.