You don’t see Trump ginning up AI videos of people celebrating the low cost of pantry staples. You don’t see GOP lawmakers bragging about how successfully they’ve driven down our grocery bills.
Trump’s tariffs against Canada make the GOP look even worse | Opinion
President Donald Trump decided it’s a great time for a trade war with Canada.
You guys remember back when Donald Trump and his Republican Party promised that, if elected, they would clean and regrout the granite at the White House’s north entrance and provide Americans with endless artificial intelligence slop on social media?
Remember when they swore that, on day one, they would rant about “fake polls” and arbitrarily change the names of large bodies of water?
Yeah, I don’t remember that, either. What I recall hearing were promises to lower food and gas prices and usher in an economic Golden Age, along with a guarantee that Trump was “not going to start a war.”
Oops. The actual promises Trump and Republican lawmakers made haven’t panned out. At all. So now they have nothing to share with the American public beyond the grout and the growling and whatever fake content Trump posts on his Truth Social account.
Trump posts AI nonsense because he’s done nothing worth bragging about
Simply put, as the midterm elections draw near, Trump and Co. have nothing to brag about. We know this because Trump brags more than anyone, and all we’re getting from him is garbage and insipid distractions.
On Aug. 29, Trump posted an AI-generated video that showed him replacing a “Lake Ontario” sign with a “Lake America” sign. That might be an alpha-move in MAGA circles, but for the rest of the world, it was a pathetic insult to our allies in Canada.
The day before, the president posted images of White House construction, writing: “Cleaning and Regrouting the Granite, for the first time in 63 years, at the White House North Entrance.”
I’m sure that’s exactly what Americans who can’t afford gas wanted an update on.
The day before that, Trump posted an AI-generated image of him arm in arm with the late Dolly Parton. Totally fake. Never happened. And absolutely useless to any American worried about kitchen-table issues, or the war with Iran that Trump started, or the myriad food recalls occurring under this administration.
Trump’s attack on polls shows he’s desperate – and wounded
On Aug. 30, clearly upset by his pitiful polling numbers, Trump posted: “THE FAKE POLLS USED BY OUR CROOKED MEDIA ARE OUT OF CONTROL.”
Trump’s AI slop is fake. The polls are not.
Also not fake is the fact that the national average per-gallon price of gasoline on the same day Trump posted his polling gripe was, according to AAA, $4.08.
It makes you wonder why he and his Republican cronies aren’t posting about gas prices. In 2024, Trump swore he would be “getting gasoline below $2 a gallon.” Driving down energy prices was a big part of his reelection campaign and the GOP platform.
But now, mum’s the word.
Food prices are still high, gas prices are still high. Nothing’s better.
It’s the same with food prices. You don’t see Trump ginning up AI videos of people celebrating the low cost of pantry staples. You don’t see Republican lawmakers on news shows bragging about how successfully they’ve driven down our grocery bills.
Trump isn’t on Truth Social crowing about keeping America out of dumb, endless wars, because we’re stuck right in the middle of one with Iran, thanks to Trump.
You don’t see Republicans gathering around the president to promote how much they’ve helped American farmers. That’s because Trump’s tariffs and now his new trade war with Canada have added dramatically to U.S. farmers’ economic woes.
There are no AI-generated images of a winged Trump descending over a heartland farm and being greeted like he was heaven-sent.
Republicans have been in full control and have accomplished zilch
No, what you’re seeing and hearing from Trump and Republicans is grout pics, ballroom chatter, measles, prohibitively expensive gas and food prices, and ludicrous accusations that polls showing how badly they’ve failed are a conspiracy.
That’s what you get when a president and members of his party have less to hang their hats on than the sheer face of a glacier.
Trump and the GOP are complaining, they’re pointing fingers, they’re fearmongering and they’re making claims about the economy that Americans know, by looking at their bank accounts or grocery receipts, aren’t true.
But things are great if you love grout!
What are they not doing? They’re not bragging about all they’ve accomplished in the nearly two years they’ve been in complete control of our government.
Well, actually, Trump is bragging about one thing: “Regrouting the Granite” at the White House.
If that’s what you voted for, congratulations. Everything’s going great on the grout front.
And everything else pretty much stinks.
Follow USA TODAY columnist Rex Huppke on Bluesky at @rexhuppke.bsky.social and on Facebook at facebook.com/RexIsAJerk.