U.S. President Donald Trump speaks during the Congressional Ball in the Grand Foyer at the White House in Washington, D.C., U.S. December 11, 2025. REUTERS/Al Drago
Although Donald Trump's victory in the 2024 presidential election wasn't the "landslide" he claims it was — he won the national popular vote by roughly 1.5 percent — it showed how resilient he is as a politician. Trump was facing four criminal indictments at the time, yet he not only won the popular vote for the first time — he also made gains among Latinos, Generation Z, tech bros, swing voters and independents.
Now ten and one-half months into his second presidency, Trump is being dogged by low approval ratings. And the economy — especially inflation — is a key factor, according to polls.
During an appearance on The New Republic's "The Daily Blast" podcast, The Bulwark's Will Saletan argued that the more Trump trashes the gains he made in 2024, the more unhinged he becomes.
Saletan told host Greg Sargent, "There's now a lot of numbers to back up the thesis that the shift of ethnic minorities, of Blacks and Latinos in particular, to Donald Trump in 2024 has reversed. In the exit polls, which we have in New Jersey and Virginia from last month, you can just see massive shifts…. Compared to 2024 in Virginia, Blacks and Latinos shifted 13 and 15 points. So 15 points, a little bit under for the two groups, towards the Democrats away from Trump. So that's in the 2025 gubernatorial election in Virginia versus the 2024 presidential in that same state."
Saletan continued, "In New Jersey, it was twice that. It was a 24-point shift among Latinos, 28-point shift among Blacks — again, away from Trump in the New Jersey governor’s race."
Saletan noted that "Republican candidates down the ballot are paying the price" for Trump's flawed messaging on the economy. And the more Trump talks about the economy, the Bulwark journalist stressed, the worst things become for his party.
Saletan told Sargent, "I watch everything this guy says. I know that's insane and masochistic. I watch everything he says; I have notes on it. I can't count the number of times that he has said.... since he's been back in power, that prices are coming down, that he's bringing prices down. Specifically, things like groceries. I mean, you don't have to look farther than the Consumer Price Index and the all-government reports on grocery prices to know that that's just BS, right? But he lies about the numbers. And then, the problem is Americans, of course, who actually go to grocery stores and buy things, are like, 'Actually, that doesn't seem to be true.' So they think things are getting worse."
Listen to the full podcast at this link or read the transcript here.