Republicans may have just rolled out a new line on the economy: High prices are good for America. If so, expect to hear it a lot more as they scramble to defend President Donald Trump’s record heading into what’s expected to be a brutal 2026 election cycle.
It’s straight out of George Orwell’s “1984”—the “we’ve always been at war with Eastasia” school of propaganda—where yesterday’s promises vanish and today’s pain is recast as patriotic duty.
It started a few days ago, when Trump ally Rep. Ralph Norman of South Carolina went on Fox News and insisted that rising costs were “for the good of the country.” This, from the same party whose leader promised to lower prices “on Day One”—a pledge that convinced many voters that Trump, despite his fascism, bigotry, and criminality, would improve their bottom line.
But instead of falling prices and more jobs, Trump has delivered the opposite: higher inflation, lower job growth, and tariffs pointing toward rough seas ahead. In fact, nearly everything Trump is doing is inflationary: His tariffs are raising prices, his mass deportations are gutting the workforce and driving up labor costs, and his crusade to strong-arm the Federal Reserve into lowering interest rates would further unbalance an economy already wobbling from rising prices.
Beef prices are at an all-time high since the government has tracked the data, starting in the 1980s.
Yet, because every Republican is expected to sing Dear Leader’s praises, the only option is to spin bad economic news as patriotic.
Norman gave it his best shot: “Yes, [prices are] higher. Steel prices are up, but it’s for the good of the country.” He added, “Should we expect high prices for a short time? Yes … The cancer in this country was letting other countries rule the day and tax our products, and why should we run a deficit every month? … And that’s why this president is doing such a good job.”
Got that? The “cancer” was lower prices, and the cure is making everything more expensive. Meanwhile, Norman voted lockstep with Trump to add another $3 trillion to the national debt, so spare us the fiscal-hawk routine.
One Republican strategist, former Rep. Vin Weber of Minnesota, offered a more candid explanation to The Hill: reducing prices is “very, very difficult and not necessarily desirable,” because deflation is usually tied to recession. That might be a fine economics seminar talking point, but Trump and his party promised the opposite—lower prices, more jobs—and now they’re stuck explaining why voters should be grateful for the pain.
If Norman’s Fox appearance is the start of a new messaging play, you’ll be hearing more of it as Republicans twist reality to protect their leader, even if that means looking voters in the eye and telling them to celebrate paying more for groceries, gas, and rent.
It’s the kind of spin that might work inside the Fox News bubble, but good luck with that out in the real world.
