This time last year, Republicans were on stage at their party's convention where they nominated President Donald Trump — and gave then-President Joe Biden a constant bruising over inflation.
Republicans launched a full-scale attack, with speaker after speaker freaking out over the price of eggs and other household staples, ABC News reported at the time.
"American families have been crushed by inflation," said former Michigan Rep. Mike Rogers, who was running for the U.S. Senate at the time.
Meanwhile, Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin (R) referred to it as the "silent creep of inflation unleashed by Joe Biden and Kamala Harris."
During the only debate between Trump and Biden, the former claimed, "Inflation is killing our country. It is absolutely killing us."
"I gave him a country with essentially no inflation. It was perfect. It was so good, all he had to do was leave it alone." Trump added. "He destroyed it."
Sen. Tim Scott (R-SC) took to the Senate floor, saying in a speech, "Americans across the country point their fingers at the devastation of inflation."
But by October 2024, CNN reported, "One of Republicans’ biggest inflation cudgels against Democrats has evaporated," as inflation began to decline.
“It looks like a very strong possibility that we’ll fall below $3 a gallon, perhaps in the next 7 to 12 days. There’s a sense of not if, but when,” GasBuddy analyst Patrick De Haan, told CNN.
Yet, one year later, Trump's inflation numbers are on the rise. And Trump and his allies don't see it as doom and gloom this time.
As of July 15, GasBuddy shows the average price per gallon in the U.S. is $3.14.
"Consumer prices rose 2.7% in June from a year earlier (2024), the Labor Department said Tuesday, up from an annual increase of 2.4% in May," the Associated Press reported, based on the new data. "On a monthly basis, prices climbed 0.3% from May to June, after rising just 0.1% the previous month."
But the same day the figures were released, Trump posted on Truth Social: "Consumer Prices LOW. Bring down the Fed Rate, NOW!!!"
The increase primarily stems from higher prices, the report stated. For example, the cost of gas increased by 1% from May to June, and grocery prices rose by 0.35%. Appliance costs jumped again for the third straight month amid Trump's trade war.
"Excluding the volatile food and energy categories, core inflation increased 2.9% in June from a year earlier, up from 2.8% in May. On a monthly basis, it picked up 0.2% from May to June. Economists closely watch core prices because they typically provide a better sense of where inflation is headed," said the AP.
Amid the pandemic, the Bureau of Labor Statistics attributed a confluence of problems to the cause of inflation.
"As the labor market tightened during 2021 and 2022, core inflation rose as the ratio of job vacancies to unemployment increased," the bureau wrote.
"This ratio is used to measure wage pressures that then pass through to the prices for goods and services. As workers bargain for better pay, firms begin to increase prices. So, from this research, the authors find that three main components explain the rise in inflation since 2020: volatility of energy prices, backlogs of work orders for goods and services caused by supply chain issues due to COVID-19, and price changes in the auto-related industries," said the BLS in 2023.
