GOP strategist Marc Short called out President Donald Trump's strategy for lowering beef prices as an admission that he raised prices.
During a Thursday appearance on CNN, Short spoke about Trump's executive order renaming Lake Ontario to Lake America and how Republican candidates are feeling about it ahead of a critical midterm race in November.
"I think there are a lot of Republicans who are facing a midterm election in less than three months, and are anxious to address some of the issues that Americans view as top priorities," Short said. "And not this."
Trump might be "entertained by it, but I don't think it really helps a lot of the Republicans that are trying to win competitive races," Short stressed, adding that "voters face a really short choice in November."
Short said that Republicans have a legitimate attack against Democrats by going after them as socialists and anti-semites, "and yet we're not able to focus on that because we're talking about, you know, renaming lakes."
On top of that, Trump's tariffs with Canada won't help Republicans in the midterm, Short said, adding that Americans have bigger problems closer to home.
"That trade war that's ongoing with Canada is really counterproductive when they have been one of our greatest trading partners," he explained. "Americans are concerned about affordability, and the tariffs continue to raise prices."
Then Short attacked the White House's denial of raising prices through its policies. He pointed out that the Trump administration employed a strategy to lower beef prices by lowering tariffs.
"I know there's a lot of conversation from the administration that says they don't raise prices," Short said. "But just last week, to lower the price of beef, what did they do? They lowered tariffs, and so it's a clear acknowledgement that that's actually the economic formula to lowering prices."