Labor Sec’y to Voters Backing Trump over Affordability: Must ‘Live in a World of Facts’, Inflation’s Down, There’s Gouging

On Friday’s “CNN News Central,” acting Labor Secretary Julie Su responded to people who say that they’re supporting 2024 Republican presidential candidate former President Donald Trump because they don’t trust his Democratic opponent, Vice President Kamala Harris on the economy due to affordability issues by stating that “we have to live in a world of facts. By just about every single measure, what we are seeing with the economic recovery we have had since what we inherited from the last administration is a success story.” And that while prices are an issue, “The inflation rate is down to its pre-pandemic levels. And we have called on companies who’ve made record profits to make sure that they’re not taking advantage of the situation to say, oh, somehow, inflation was like a force of nature.”

Co-host Kate Bolduan asked, “If the affordability crisis remains, and it does, for so many people, it still is very hard for them to afford the things to keep their lives going, and if they’re, as we’ve seen in some — in past polling, that that is one of the reasons that they are supporting Donald Trump…because they do not trust Kamala Harris on the economy. What do you say to them after seeing these reports?”

Su answered, “Look, we have to live in a world of facts. By just about every single measure, what we are seeing with the economic recovery we have had since what we inherited from the last administration is a success story. Again, job creation, wages are up, obviously, the price of things remains a challenge and we are continuing to combat it, right? The inflation rate is down to its pre-pandemic levels. And we have called on companies who’ve made record profits to make sure that they’re not taking advantage of the situation to say, oh, somehow, inflation was like a force of nature. There are choices that are being made. And monopolistic behavior by companies who can say, look, I can do whatever I want because consumers have no choice, is part of the problem. We are also combating that.”