Soon: Trump Takes Affordability Message to PA Rally

And as we're awaiting President Trump's speech on affordability in Eastern Pennsylvania, the first of many planned trips ahead of next year's midterms, we're joined by our panel now, Democratic strategist Lee Nevice and former Republican Congressman Chris Gibson. Thank you both very much for joining us here tonight. Congressman Gibson, how has the Trump administration and Republicans in Congress been doing over the past year when it comes to messaging on affordability? Well, I think on messaging uh obviously not that effective when you look at the polling and as to the impact of policies, it depends on who you are. Uh for those that are invested in the market, uh you know, they have done well, uh and their spending, their consuming is up, but if you're part of the quarter of America that lives paycheck to paycheck, it's harder. So, you know, one thing you can count on with Washington is the the leaders in both political parties are going to blame each other. And then unfortunately, too often what you see is policies that impact the symptoms. Sometimes you have to address both the symptoms and the long-term drivers of uh of issues such as inflation. Uh but it's a shame that we don't actually work together to actually really bring forward policies that in the long run are going to be better for all Americans. Lee, what what's your thoughts on that? President Trump is touting uh that his economic policies will drive the economy in a better place next year and we could start seeing some uh progress there. What's your take? >> This is the same president who when he was campaigning said he was going to be bring prices down on day one. On day one day he got inaugurated prices would come down. That obviously has not happened. The the messaging throughout the year has been horrible. Here's a president who ran on the economy. And yet, once he gets in office, it's everything but. It has been ICE. It's been the border. It's been Venezuela. It's been wanting to get the Nobel Peace Prize. It's been anything but what got him into office in the first place. Like Bill Clinton famously said, it's the economy, stupid. And if anything, Republicans, there are two things going in 2026 that are really going to put them behind the ball and at a disadvantage. One is tariffs. tariffs have been increasing prices and really killing the a economy, the the the a sector, which were big supporters of his. I know that yesterday, President Trump came out and said he's going to give 12 billion to America's farmers. There are 2 million farms in America. I was not a math major, but I could do the math. If all 2 million got part of his bailout, that'd be 6,000 per farm. Cut it in half, then that's 12,000 per farm. partly enough to make a dent for what farmers are going through because their markets have been killed by these Trump tariffs. The other is going to be health care and Republicans are really going to be held to task on health care because when the Democrats were holding out for the continuing resolution uh resolution, the Republicans said, "We want a clean one. We have plenty of time to find a fix for healthcare." Guess what? There's eight voting days in Congress left and they are nowhere near finding a fix for the health care premium hikes that you will see come January 1st. Congressman, I want to get your response on a couple of things there. Um, first about the uh 12 billion aid package to farmers. How much of an impact do you think that will be? Um, and also as far as the health care uh goes, uh, Democrats seem to want to stick with a uh a a clean extension to that uh to the health ACA health care subsidies, but Republicans want to change it. Uh, but what's your take? >> Yeah. Well, in both cases, these are shorter term policies that are addressing symptoms. Like I said, there are times when you have to address both symptoms and the long-term drivers. So, they ought to work together on these things. On the matter of tariffs, uh, you know, I think judgment matters here. I mean, you can't be an independent nation if you can't defend yourself. Part of defending yourself is being able to create, uh, really manufacture your own uh, national security equipment. So, you know, having some tariffs uh, is uh, is something I can support. I want to have fair trade. uh but frankly I mean what we have seen uh unfortunately even if I'm giving the benefit of of good intentions here is by coming forward with tariffs and then pulling them back putting them back on pulling them back overshooting the target uh in an attempt to get a reaction from the other country again I I can understand you know perhaps why that is being done but I can tell you that in the business world what they're really looking for is predictability and stability and this has impacted prices. So, you know, I I think we have to come to a place where we're making judgments, good judgments. And by the way, by constitution that really needs to come from the people and the people's representatives. So, president can play a role, a leadership role in articulating what kind of vision that uh he or she is looking for in a country, but ultimately according to article one, section 8 of the constitution, that really needs to come from the people. And as far as the tariffs go, uh we're seeing lots of money coming in uh from these the tariff revenue, although that Supreme Court case that will ultimately determine if Trump can use those is still pending. Um but as far as this message on affordability, Lee, what can we expect from the Democrats? We see President Trump uh you know, touring the country now. What can we expect from the Democrats who hope to regain control of Congress next year? Well, I mean a few things you can expect to see right away is one is going to be on healthcare and the fact they have campaign been campaigning and talking about and wanting to uh extend those subsidies. That's one right off the bat that they have the high ground on. They have a solution for at least in the short term they have a solution for um that the American public, Republicans and Democrats are behind. The other is going to be on tariffs. Um, and the fact that tariffs [music] have been increasing prices and the fact that Democrats want to look, some tariffs are probably needed, but these blanket tariffs on everything, including things that we don't have in the United States, co, you know, coffee beans for example, which are grown elsewhere, bananas, which are grown elsewhere, you know, a lot of food items which are grown elsewhere in the world, yet we're still slapping tariffs on them, increasing those prices. Those are things Democrats can point to and say, [music] "We're not for that. the Republicans are and if we're in power, we're going to get rid of those. >> All right, with that, Lee Nez and Chris Gibson, thank you so much for sharing your insights here with us today. Really appreciate it. We're going to tune in now live to President Trump who's just about to kick off his speech in Pennsylvania, Eastern Pennsylvania swing area. So, let's tune in.