Fox News anchor Brian Kilmeade suggested Friday that President Donald Trump make a small adjustment to his messaging on the economy as he prepares to launch an affordability-focused tour in Pennsylvania next week.
Trump has repeatedly described Democrats’ claims of an affordability crisis as a “hoax” and a “con job,” but Kilmeade argued on Fox & Friends that the phrasing risks allowing Democrats to twist his meaning.
Discussing the issue with co-hosts Lawrence Jones and Ainsley Earhardt, Kilmeade said Trump is clearly addressing rising prices and taking action to improve the economy, but Democrats are seizing on the word “hoax” to falsely claim Trump is ignoring inflation. “The only thing I think that he could subtly change is when he says, all this is a hoax,” Kilmeade said. “It makes some people on first blush say the president’s not acknowledging that prices are higher. But what he is acknowledging is what he’s doing about it. But he thinks the whole outrage that Democrats say, the president’s causing this, is the hoax part of it.”
Kilmeade said Democrats are using Trump’s language to push misleading talking points similar to those promoted during the Biden years, including attempts to sell “Bidenomics” despite its widely criticized results.
He argued Trump should draw a clearer distinction between the reality of inflation—which he says Trump is already addressing—and Democrats’ attempt to blame him for economic pain he inherited.
He added that Trump’s message would benefit from spelling out how inflation has slowed. “It’s going up at a slower rate and it’s gonna keep going down,” Kilmeade said, pointing out that the basic inflation rate is now 3 percent—higher than when Trump first took office but significantly lower than the 9 percent spike seen in 2022 under Joe Biden.
Earhardt noted that Democrats still have not offered a plan to bring down costs without raising taxes, and Kilmeade agreed, emphasizing the lack of solutions coming from the left.
According to Kilmeade, Trump is ready to detail the policies his administration is enacting, while Democrats continue to rely on rhetoric rather than substance. “The best I think the president’s like, I’ll tell you about a million things that we’re doing, can you please tell me a couple of things, anything, can you name two things Democrats are doing? If they had the power, what would you be doing?” he asked.
Kilmeade’s comments come as Trump shifts into a more aggressive economic message heading into the election season, with affordability and inflation rating among voters’ top concerns. Republicans have consistently argued that the economic crisis began under Biden and that Trump’s policies lowered inflation, boosted wages, and kept prices stable before Democrats’ spending sprees derailed the economy.
The upcoming Pennsylvania tour is expected to focus heavily on the contrast between Trump’s economic record and the failures of Biden-era policies—making refined messaging an important part of a broader strategy to hold Democrats accountable and reassure voters concerned about the cost of living.
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