The messaging coming out of the Trump administration about the state of the economy lit a fire underneath a former Trump White House official on Sunday.
Sarah Matthews, who was Trump’s deputy press secretary during the first term, told MS NOW’s Nicolle Wallace on “Deadline: White House: Weekend” that the second Trump administration is trying to “gaslight” Americans about the state of the economy. She pointed to a recent appearance by Trump’s top economic adviser, Kevin Hassett, where he claimed that the economy is “amazing” despite a wealth of evidence suggesting otherwise.
“They’re trying to gaslight their voters and tell them everything’s fine,” Matthews said. “Putting Kevin Hassett out there and having him go on the news and say that the economy is amazing. I mean, are you kidding me?”
Trump has consistently boasted about the economy, even as recent data suggests it’s “nothing to brag about,” as the Wall Street Journal’s conservative editorial board recently surmised. The economy grew at a “tepid” 1.5% during the last quarter, the editorial board noted, and stubborn inflation caused the Federal Reserve to leave its benchmark interest rate in place.
Matthews said that messaging is a “slap in the face” to people who helped put Trump in office.
“It’s just amazing that they clearly have not learned the lessons of the previous administration, and then are trying to tell their voters that everything’s fine. And the thing is … people do feel bamboozled,” Matthews said. “They voted for President Trump because he said that he was going to lower prices on day one. He said that he was going to be the peace president. He said he was going to do all these things. And it turns out that he’s done the exact opposite. So, it is just a slap in the face to the people who put him into office and have supported him for them to continue to try to gaslight them.”