Donald Trump’s ‘messaging event’ on the economy was a complete mess

This is an adapted excerpt from the Aug. 14 episode of “The ReidOut.”

In a 2004 interview with CNN, Donald Trump said, “The economy does better under the Democrats.” 

The 2024 Republican nominee for president wasn’t wrong. And now, we have even more evidence to back up his point. 

On Wednesday, we learned that inflation fell to its lowest level in more than three years. That’s not just good news for your pocketbook, it’s really good news for the Federal Reserve, which has been looking for numbers like this to justify cutting interest rates.

He was supposed to lay out his economic vision for the future. Instead, he went on for more than an hour with incoherent lies.

Do you know what else we found out this week? Under the Biden administration, the U.S. has produced the most oil ever by any nation on Earth.

This news is such a big deal that it seemed to trigger Trump. Late Wednesday, Trump held a “messaging event” on the economy in North Carolina. 

He was supposed to lay out his economic vision for the future. Instead, he went on for more than an hour with incoherent lies about the currently booming economy and lies about the economy he left for President Joe Biden.

Trump said he gave “Harris and Biden an economic miracle” that they turned into “an economic nightmare.”

He then made vague promises about lowering inflation … without saying how he’d do that.

“My first day back I will sign an executive order directing every Cabinet secretary and agency head to use every tool and authority to defeat inflation,” Trump said. 

Then he just wouldn’t stop whining about how Harris supposedly copies him.

“When Kamala lays out her fake economic plan it’ll probably be a copy of mine because basically that’s what she does,” Trump said.

Trump’s rambling “messaging event” was totally disconnected from reality. Inflation is down, wage growth is outpacing price growth, and violent crime is also down. These are objective facts that don’t care about Trump’s feelings.

Trump’s rambling “messaging event” was totally disconnected from reality.

Vice President Kamala Harris will also be in North Carolina on Friday to lay out her vision for the economy. According to Axios, she’s going to outline how she would lower costs for health care, housing and food for the middle class. 

She reportedly wants to break with Bidenomics and hit rising prices head-on, making middle-class economic concerns a key focus of her campaign.

Harris was boosted by a Financial Times poll that showed voters trust her more than Trump on the economy. Like Trump said in 2004, maybe voters are realizing that the economy just does better under Democrats.

Join Joy Reid, Rachel Maddow and many others on Saturday, Sept. 7, in Brooklyn, New York, for “MSNBC Live: Democracy 2024,” a first-of-its-kind live event. You’ll get to see your favorite hosts in person and hear thought-provoking conversations about what matters most in the final weeks of an unprecedented election cycle. Buy tickets here.