Trump's wild speech proved he has a 'special kind of delusion': top lawmaker

Tuesday night was the first stop on President Donald Trump’s new affordability messaging tour, but it was a “train wreck,” U.S. Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer said.

Trump may have read all his lines at his Pennsylvania rally, but he also ad-libbed a lot, mocking the affordability crisis in America as a “hoax.”

Schumer on Wednesday told his Senate colleagues that Trump “simply doesn’t get what people are struggling through,” because he’s “trapped in his billionaire bubble.”

READ MORE: How Trump Could Try to Undermine the 2026 Elections — and Fail: Columnist

“It takes a special kind of delusion to tell parents to buy their kids fewer toys and pencils while bragging about new ballrooms and gold in the Oval Office,” the New York Democratic lawmaker explained.

“In his speech, that was supposed to be about affordability, Donald Trump kept making fun of the word ‘affordability,'” Schumer noted. “Does he have to go shop for groceries and not be able to buy the things his family needs?”

The minority leader explained that the president doesn’t understand what it’s like when your car gets damaged in an accident, “and you don’t have money for the deductible, and you don’t have a car.”

“People are struggling,” Schumer said. “They can’t afford basic needs, and Donald Trump keeps making fun of it by calling it all a giant hoax. But Americans know affordability is not a hoax. They see it as very real every time they go to the grocery store, pay their bills, pay the rent.”

A recent poll found that 77% of Americans concerned about the economy and inflation believe the president is not spending enough time managing those problems.

READ MORE: ‘His Heart Just Ain’t in It’: Report Reveals Trump’s ‘Achilles Heel’

“What was Donald Trump’s solution to affordability?” Schumer asked. “Well, last night, Trump said parents should buy their kids fewer dolls for Christmas. We’re not talking about fewer dolls for Christmas. We’re talking about necessities like food. Like medicine. Like fixing your car when it gets damaged.”

A just-released Politico poll found that “Half of those surveyed said they find it difficult to pay for food. And a majority, 55 percent, blame the Trump administration for the high prices.”

Schumer continued to blast Trump, noting that he “said kids at school should have fewer pencils. And then he repeated his favorite, that his favorite word was tariffs. What kind of world does he live in? Does he understand that these tariffs are raising prices? Through the roof?”

Schumer also pointed to Trump’s Politico interview this week — where the president gave himself an “A+++++” on the economy — and warned that “the American people are giving him an F.”

“Over the last year, the price of beef has gone up at the grocery store by 20%,” Schumer noted. “That’s an F. Today, Americans pay 40% more for a single cup of coffee on their way to work than they did last year. That’s an F. People are paying more on electricity bills while Donald Trump has cut domestic energy jobs. That’s a massive F.”

“The final grade, big fat F. In no universe does Donald Trump deserve anywhere close to an A, or a B, or even a C, for his job on the economy.”

READ MORE: ‘Reality Problem’: Columnist Says Trump ‘Isn’t Even Trying’ to Honor His Promises