Former US President and Republican presidential candidate Trump delivers a speech at a campaign event in Racine, Wisconsin, USA, on June 18, 2024.
Brendan McDermid | Reuters
Former President Donald Trump on Saturday outlined the ammunition he is preparing to oppose President Joe Biden’s handling of the economy ahead of next week’s first presidential debate.
He delivered a roughly 80-minute keynote address at a conference of evangelical advocacy groups Faith and Freedom AllianceTrump has launched a series of attacks on Biden, including on economic issues such as inflation, climate infrastructure spending and the growing federal deficit.
Regarding inflation specifically, Trump previewed the strategy he may use in the June 27 debate against Biden.
“I have a little thing. I shouldn’t show it. Maybe I should save it for the debate,” Trump said, before pulling out a box of Tic Tac candy and placing a regular-sized box next to it.
“Inflation, that’s what it does to you. Now these are Tic Tacs,” Trump continued, pointing to the tiny boxes as the crowd burst into laughter. “This is what inflation does. I’m glad everyone in this room has a good eye. But I’m going to end Biden’s inflation nightmare.”
Trump’s Tic Tac demonstration represents a phenomenon that Biden himself calls “deflation,” the practice of selling smaller sizes of items for the same price. The White House uses “deflation” to attack companies that artificially drive up consumer prices.
But Trump’s Tic Tac stunt was not allowed during Thursday’s debate because props and pre-written notes were banned. It ultimately underlined how Trump would overcome the limits of the debate’s drama that resonated with voters in rallies.
The televised debates will have no live audience and microphones will be muted when candidates are not speaking. The restrictions are intended to limit distractions in the hope of avoiding a repeat of the 2020 debates, when both Biden and Trump struggled to get a word in because of interference from the other side.
Trump’s speech on Saturday gave the Biden campaign a high-level preview of likely talking points in Thursday’s showdown, as both candidates prepare to take on the other.
“The economy is in ruins under Biden,” Trump said on Saturday.
Biden-Harris 2024 spokesperson Sarafina Chitika said in a statement responding to Trump on Saturday that “Trump’s incoherent and unhinged tirade showed voters, in his own words, that He is a threat to our freedoms and is too dangerous to have him anywhere near the White House again.
The former president’s economic platform so far has revolved around imposing tough tariffs on all imports, forcing the Federal Reserve to lower interest rates and extend his first-term tax cuts. Economists expect inflation to rise again if the proposals take effect.
On Saturday, Trump also doubled down on his proposal to eliminate the tip income tax and walked back previous remarks about cutting Social Security.
“As president, I will not cut a cent from Social Security or Medicare,” Trump said in an interview on CNBC’s “Squawk Box,” months after he said he would consider cutting Social Security.
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