‘We’re not in the Golden Age here’: GOP & Dem Mayors give Trump a ‘reality check’ on economy

[0:01] president trump and his administration are still painting a rosy picture of the economy [0:06] even as americans face higher costs and a weak job market here's treasury secretary scott [0:11] besson declaring that the widening gap between the rich and the poor is dead i got sick of hearing [0:18] about this k-shaped economy i i can say here definitively the k-shaped economy is over and [0:26] we're seeing more of a c economy where the the lower end of wage earners are finally calling it [0:31] back just like they did in president trump's first term on top of that the president continues to [0:37] talk about the economy in unrealistic ways our country right now is doing better than it's [0:44] ever done you know when i see polls on the economy i should have i should have 150 not 100 because [0:52] we have the greatest this is the golden age of america what's being built now in this country [0:58] has never ever been built the quote golden age of america president trump is describing is far [1:06] from the reality that many americans are experiencing a new survey found the majority [1:11] of americans view rising living costs as the biggest barrier to a better life with 60 percent [1:16] of respondents saying that they wanted greater financial security joining us now are two mayors [1:22] whose constituents are facing the consequences of trump's economy firsthand democratic mayor matt [1:28] turk of allentown pennsylvania and republican mayor daniel rickenman of columbia south carolina thank you [1:35] both to join me for joining us this morning there's obviously some positive economic indicators that the [1:42] administration has latched on to and they're committed to those talking points uh and at the same time also [1:49] inventing statistics of their own and realities of their own as you've seen the president do in [1:54] interview after interview but talk to us a little bit about what people are actually feeling on the [2:00] ground and the disconnect there well i will tell you i think it's here in south carolina we're maintaining [2:06] right we're seeing some growth uh for a lot of reasons but at the same time people are still [2:11] struggling affordability we hear it every day from folks and we're having to be creative like we've never [2:18] had been in housing uh we haven't had a tax raise in 10 years here and part of that is is because we [2:25] really focused on making sure that things stay affordable for us and and you look at it wages [2:31] have not gone up to the level that we've seen costs increase so it is a real conversation people are [2:37] having today and we're having to supplement i'm not saying that we're doing terrible here but we're not [2:44] in the golden age here mayor turk democrat um i want to um show you two different poll two different [2:54] parts of a poll from border zip souls only 23 percent of americans approve of president trump's [3:00] economy um 63 percent um when you look at it they disapprove of the u.s economy 70 disapprove of [3:08] how he handles the cost of living 70 disapprove of inflation and we all know when you get in the 70s [3:15] you're talking independence and some republicans and then also this kind of this one shocked me and [3:20] i'm curious if it shocked you as well that dems are seen as more trustworthy on the [3:25] economy which party has the better approach it was the question 37 democrats 36 republicans 27 [3:32] not sure and different party now that's just a one percent difference which statistically [3:36] doesn't really matter much but that is the first time in a decade i think of this poll [3:42] asking this question that that has actually happened when you talk to folks mayors are on the ground you [3:48] guys cannot dodge people in in grocery stores like members of congress can't dodge them at town halls [3:53] but when you're at the grocery store when you're getting gas when you're talking to people does it [3:57] feel like they're starting to trust democrats more on the economy or hoping at least that democrats would [4:02] do something differently than donald trump would be able to do so in allentown where we have a bodega [4:08] on every corner and that's where i spend my time in fact on friday i was i spent my entire day at [4:13] the corner of 11th and linden and i was talking to everybody who was walking by and walking in and [4:18] out of that bodega and they're the trust i mean they're looking for somebody who can actually [4:25] make some positive impact on their lives people in allentown but people in cities across america [4:31] are struggling with gas prices they're struggling with energy prices they're struggling with the cost [4:37] of food in the supermarket and they're struggling with housing and mayor rickham had mentioned it [4:41] you know mayors mayors are focused on improving affordability in cities and we don't have a lot [4:47] of levers that we can pull one of them is you know trying to make it easier for housing to be built [4:54] we try to improve uh people's access to to good jobs but when when the federal government can't get [5:00] its act together and fund snap and fund these healthy nutrition programs we don't have a good answer [5:07] for that one as mayors so people that i talk to in in allentown and across the united states they're [5:14] looking for somebody who can actually help them get ahead in their lives and if the republicans can't [5:21] do it or if the current administration can't do it they're looking for democrats to provide answers [5:27] uh may recommend um president trump gave an interview to punch bowl news that uh came out on thursday [5:34] uh and jake sherman asked the president um about voter frustration listen to who the president [5:43] says or who he thinks folks are angry at watch this if i don't run will those people go out and vote [5:54] and that's the one thing i can't i'm going to ask him to a lot of them are very angry at republicans [6:01] to be honest with you they're angry i don't know i mean they're angry republicans but they're not [6:06] an interesting thing why they're not angry at me but they are angry at republicans mayor rickman [6:14] they're in columbia south carolina um what are you hearing from your constituents who are columbians [6:21] columbia south carolinians blaming for what's happening in the country particularly particularly [6:28] your republican constituents are they blaming the president or are they just blaming anybody but him [6:34] oh i think it is people are upset with the federal government all the way across from the [6:39] administration to congress because they're not getting things done right i mean the snap program [6:44] that mayor turk brought up is a great example right so they agreed on getting the online portal permanently [6:50] right they've agreed on making sure that the discounts for healthy foods and proteins and others [6:56] get put in they've agreed on the fact that they expanded to have hot meals included right but they [7:03] can't agree on a two-year grace period to fix any overspending and fraud to get it done y'all came to [7:11] the table for a housing bill right and finally got something done since the first time since 1992 [7:17] it is people's frustration is with the federal government they lean to us because they know that we get [7:23] things done but we are limited resources you know in a state of south carolina snap program as a whole [7:30] if we had to take it over states like over a hundred million dollars a month we we don't have those [7:35] resources right this is time for congress and the administration to get on the ground and start [7:40] talking to people like we do every day in the streets to understand the the frustration is with the [7:48] parties themselves i've heard more conversations in the last six months about people wanting a third [7:54] party to come to the table because so many people are now hovering together in the middle because they [8:01] want to see things done about common sense so i think it's it's it's it's not just the i think it's the [8:08] president it's the administration it is the congress as a whole where the frustration is in my community [8:14] and the congress as a whole where the republicans are in the majority in the house and the senate and [8:20] just to put a to put a an excellent an exclamation point on what you were saying but mayor rickenman [8:26] this didn't happen in the last last two years either i mean we've seen this if you looked at the last [8:32] four years jobs have gone down since 2022 etc so that's why there's this boiling frustration on both [8:38] sides and you know i think it's the the reality check that that folks really need to understand was [8:44] happening in their communities um and as npr um reported uh more than four million people are [8:50] no longer receiving food aid amid sweeping changes to snap that came out on monday mayor matt turk of [8:57] allentown pennsylvania daniel rickenman of columbia south carolina thank you both very much for coming [9:03] to the weekend still ahead we will bring you the results from