Washington Examiner economics columnist Tiana Lowe Doescher said the Trump administration is failing to capitalize on a stronger economic record than it is communicating.
Doescher argued that real wages declined during former President Joe Biden’s four years in office, while real average weekly earnings have increased under President Donald Trump.
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“The White House has missed the point,” Doescher said Monday on CNN’s Group Chat. “They’ve missed the point that real wages under Biden’s presidency, throughout the full four years, fell about 4%. Under Trump, real average weekly earnings, per the [Bureau of Labor Statistics], have risen.”
Economic concerns remain a major factor shaping voters’ views of the Trump administration. Although inflation has cooled considerably from its peak, consumers continue to grapple with elevated prices and affordability concerns, particularly in the housing market.
“It’s true, affordability is the No. 1 voter concern,” she said. “But the affordability crisis under Trump is now disproportionately really about housing. It isn’t really about consumer prices.”
Doescher argued that Trump missed an opportunity by not signing the 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act, championed by Sen. Tim Scott (R-SC), the chairman of the Senate Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs Committee.
“This is why it was probably a political mistake for Trump not to staple himself onto the housing bill,” she said.
REPUBLICAN FRUSTRATION OVER AFFORDABILITY VULNERABILITY BOILS OVER
With affordability continuing to dominate voter concerns, Doescher argued that the administration needs to make a more forceful case for the gains it believes people are already seeing.
“Make America prosperous again, and increasing real wages, that is a win for him, and the White House needs to own it,” she said.
