As the number of Americans who say the economy is worsening continues to rise, one aide to President Donald Trump is sounding the alarm over the impending midterm elections.
"At the end of the day, what will define the midterms is the administration's economic success and the perception of it," said an adviser to Trump, speaking with Axios in its report Friday on the condition of anonymity.
“If the economy is booming and is perceived as booming, it creates a headwind that will be hard for Democrats to overcome. But if it's booming and it's not perceived as booming, it's going to be really hard."
According to a recent poll conducted by the data analytics firm YouGov, the number of Americans who say the economy is getting worse skyrocketed to 54% as of Nov. 1, an increase of 18 percentage points from when Trump took office in January. The number of Americans who described the economy as poor also increased since Trump took office, from 31% in January to 39% in November.
And yet, despite Trump insisting Thursday that the economy was in good shape, the recent Democratic sweep in Tuesday’s election contests, where Democratic candidates largely campaigned on improving affordability, has caused fear in the White House, Axios reported.
The perception of a worsening economy among Americans has grown so severe that even staunch Trump allies have begun to sound the alarm on how many of Trump’s actions appear to the average voter, actions such as throwing a lavish party while food assistance lapsed for millions of Americans, or flying all over the globe to mingle with world leaders.
“It's a revolving door at the White House of foreign leaders when Americans are, you know, screaming from their lungs,” said Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA), speaking with Axios recently.
Nevertheless, Trump has continued to insist in the wake of Democrats’ victories on Tuesday running on affordability, Republicans still have the upper hand on the issue, and that his party’s only blind spot is that "Republicans don’t talk about it."
“Affordability is much better with the Republicans,” Trump said Thursday night, ABC News reported. "The only problem is the Republicans don’t talk about it.”