President Donald Trump's former attorney bashed the president's new "affordability schtick" as "gaslighting on a national scale" in a new Substack essay published on Sunday.
Michael Cohen, the former attorney for the Trump Organization, argued in the essay that Trump's new focus on affordability belies his economic policies. Trump has slapped tariffs on several staple imports, ranging from foreign automobiles to steel and timber.
"Donald Trump has never met a reality he couldn’t rewrite or a lie he couldn’t sell, but even by his standards, this new 'affordability' shtick is next-level absurd," Cohen wrote. "We’re now watching the same man who slapped tariffs on everything short of Girl Scout cookies try to rebrand himself as America’s coupon clipper-in-chief. He’s out there insisting that prices are down, that life under Trump is cheaper, that you’re somehow better off; even as you stand in the checkout line wondering how your grocery bill just hit a new personal best."
Trump has repeatedly claimed that grocery prices are decreasing, despite the latest economic data indicating otherwise.
"Let’s get something straight: Trump’s newfound obsession with 'affordability' is like a pyromaniac lecturing the fire department," Choen argued. "His economic policies are the arsonists behind the very blaze he’s pretending to put out. He’s the guy who poured gasoline on inflation and now wants a medal for handing out paper cups of water."
"It’s gaslighting at a national scale," he added. "A reality distortion field so absurd it’d make Orwell’s head spin. But it’s also pure Trump: if you can’t fix it, deny it; if people don’t buy it, shout louder. And then, have your enablers repeat it over and over."