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Fox struggles to run cover for Trump calling affordability crisis a “hoax,” “scam,” and “con job”

Written by Zachary Pleat

Published

Fox News is scrambling to spin President Donald Trump’s reactions to recent Democratic electoral victories, which conservative media previously tied to failures by the Trump administration and Republican-controlled Congress to address America's growing affordability crisis. In the aftermath of the 2025 elections, Trump has repeatedly dismissed Democrats’ fixation on voter concerns over affordability as a “con job,” “hoax,” and “scam” — often by misleadingly citing the reduced cost of a Walmart Thanksgiving dinner bundle or falsely claiming that prices in general are declining — and several Fox personalities have tried to launder his comments by offering explanations for what he meant. 

Meanwhile, others at Fox cosigned Trump’s dismissal of affordability concerns, and more resorted to their time-tested excuse of blaming former President Joe Biden for Trump’s faltering economy.

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  • Trump has repeatedly dismissed growing concerns over affordability by falsely claiming prices have dropped

    • In a November 6 Truth Social post, Trump wrote: “The Democrats ‘affordability’ issue is DEAD! STOP LYING!!!” In his post, Trump cited 2025 Thanksgiving dinner bundle offered by Walmart, which was both smaller and less expensive compared to last year’s offer. [Truth Social, 11/6/25; Media Matters, 11/7/25]
    • Trump said: “I don't want to hear about the affordability because right now we're much less.” Trump claimed “groceries are way down” and again cited the Walmart Thanksgiving dinner bundle. [Factbase, 11/6/25]
    • Trump called affordability “a con job by the Democrats” during a November 7 meeting with Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán. Yet again, Trump cited Walmart’s Thanksgiving dinner bundle as supposed proof that affordability is not a concern. [Factbase, 11/7/25]
    • In a November 14 Truth Social post, Trump wrote: “Affordability is a lie when used by the Dems. It is a complete CON JOB.” Trump added: “Thanksgiving costs are 25% lower this year than last, under Crooked Joe! We are the Party of Affordability!” [Truth Social, 11/14/25]
    • During a December 2 Cabinet meeting, Trump said: “Affordability is a hoax that was started by Democrats who caused the problem of pricing.” Trump claimed: “We’re bringing the prices down, way down. Beef is coming down now. We’ve done certain magic and beef is coming down.” He also said: “The word affordability is a Democrat scam.” [Factbase, 12/2/25]
    • During December 3 remarks at the White House, Trump said: “They use the word affordability. It’s a Democrat hoax.” Trump prefaced this by claiming the cost for “just about everything is down.” [Factbase, 12/3/25]

  • Fox News tried to explain away Trump’s dismissal of affordability concerns

    • Fox anchor Jacqui Heinrich: “A lot of us who spend enough time around the president … sort of understand what he means when he’s saying that affordability is a ‘con job.’ He’s pointing to the Democrats’ ability to win on affordability messaging.” [Fox News, The Sunday Briefing, 12/7/25]
    • Fox & Friends co-host Brian Kilmeade on Trump’s comments: “What he says is affordability is a hoax. In Trump terms that means you’re starting it again. You’re actually blaming me for affordability when you handed me this grenade, pulled the pin, and are saying, oh, why don't you make things affordable?” [Fox News, Fox & Friends, 12/8/25]
    • Fox & Friends co-host Ainsley Earhardt on Trump’s dismissal of affordability concerns: “When he calls it a con job, it's like the kid in fifth grade that was running for president of the student body and said I'm going to put drink machines on every hallway, I'm going to put candy machines everywhere — you know that's never going to happen. But they always get the votes.” Earhardt added: “That’s what [NewYork City Mayor-elect] Zohran Mamdani did.” [Fox News, Fox & Friends, 12/8/25]
    • Kilmeade: “He’s saying it's not a hoax that prices are up, he’s saying it's a hoax that Democrats are suddenly concerned about it and blaming him.” [Fox News, Fox & Friends, 12/8/25]
    • Fox & Friends co-host Lawrence Jones: The “hoax” Trump referred to is “the coverage surrounding” affordability now, “when all of a sudden the president is doing something to try to turn this around, acknowledging the pain.” [Fox News, Fox & Friends, 12/8/25]
    • Kilmeade: When Trump calls affordability a “hoax,” “he thinks the whole outrage, that Democrats says the president’s causing this, is the hoax part of it.” Earhardt claimed that when Trump called affordability a Democratic “con job,” he was referring to Democrats’ solutions for high prices: “The president's right, it is a con job. Because you can't get all of this, everything free, unless you're taxing the rich, unless you're increasing corporate taxes.” [Fox News, Fox & Friends, 12/5/25]

  • Others on Fox joined Trump in dismissing affordability concerns

    • Mornings with Maria panelists applauded Trump’s upcoming economic messaging tour even as they dismissed affordability concerns as a “messaging” problem. Fox contributor Liz Peek claimed that Trump’s agenda “will in fact bring prices down over time,” but “the voters are negative on that right now. He has to address it.” Fox Business anchor Cheryl Casone said: “I do agree with Liz, it is a concern for Republicans … but again, it’s about messaging, not the facts. It’s about how this is getting sold, or not sold, to the American public.” [Fox Business, Mornings with Maria, 12/8/25]
    • Fox anchor Sandra Smith: “Republicans could take the moment to remind voters that affordability is about your ability to afford the things that you need based on your income and wages, and income and wages are going up.” [Fox News, America Reports, 12/5/25]
    • Smith: “I’ve seen that there is an affordability crisis in so many headlines, and I say, well, show it to me.” [Fox News, America Reports, 12/8/25]

  • Fox also resorted to blaming Biden

    • Kilmeade: “I think people have to understand, if affordability is a problem, you have to give a mirror to every Democrat and go, how did this all start? … The rescue plan, the Inflation Reduction Act, and the infrastructure plan, that was spending off the charts coming out of the pandemic.” [Fox News, Fox & Friends, 12/5/25]
    • Fox Business host Charles Payne deflected from affordability concerns, saying: “President Trump inherited a rocketship” of inflation. Payne added: “The origins of all of this, you got to go back to COVID. You got to go back to all of the money that cascaded into this society and where it came from.” He continued: “All of a sudden Biden just flooded the country with so much money, those stimmy checks, everything else. We’re talking trillions of dollars, right? You put out trillions of dollars, what’s the basic definition of inflation? Typically it’s too much money chasing too few goods and services. And that is exactly what happened.” [Fox News, America Reports, 12/5/25]
    • Fox Business host Jackie DeAngelis seemed to blame the affordability crisis on “the green push under Joe Biden. That really hurt Americans.” DeAngelis added that Trump “is trying to roll back these regulations, change the standards so that cars become more affordable.” [Fox News, The Faulkner Focus, 12/4/25]
    • Lawrence Jones on affordability concerns: “We don’t talk about where we started. We just don't talk about it enough. You can't expect all of this to go away — the damage that was done — in nine months. It’s just not realistic.” [Fox News, Fox & Friends, 12/4/25]
    • Fox Business anchor David Asman: The housing affordability crisis is “definitely on Biden and the trillions of extra dollars that he was spending” because “interest rates had to go up sky high in order to keep up with the Biden inflation.” [Fox News, America Reports, 12/3/25]