President Donald Trump has been promoting "affordability" after the blowout off-year elections in 2025 revealed Americans aren't feeling the economic improvements he's claiming.
According to CNN data analyst Harry Enten, there's a good reason for that. Costs are significantly higher than they were at the same time in 2024.
The top shopping days of the year are approaching, and "prices are rising, rising, rising," said Enten.
It isn't simply one industry either.
"Just your costs are up versus a year ago," Enten said, citing groceries up 85 percent, utilities up 78 percent, health care up 67 percent, housing up 66 percent and gasoline up 54 percent. "The bottom line is this: Americans feel like prices are rising in each and every single part of their lives. Rising."
Americans don't feel like they "can catch a break," he added.
Meanwhile, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent was dismissive of the impact tariffs have had on inflation and increasing prices. He claimed that prices would all come down in the next few weeks or months.
Enten said that Americans aren't buying it. A whopping 71 percent of Americans believe that tariffs are the cause of rising prices. Even 59 percent of Republicans agree with the sentiment.
The GOP claims that all of the problems are a result of President Joe Biden's policies, but the spin isn't working.
"When you can get a majority of Republicans to agree with the majority of Democrats, you know that the pain is being felt by the American public right now," said Enten. "The treasury secretary can try and tell the people something, but they can feel in their pocketbooks. They, simply put, don't buy what he and this administration is selling when it comes to tariffs."