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   From: null@noswhere.com   
      
   Trump picks the wrong time to lie to the public about grocery prices   
      
   On Tuesday morning, the Trump administration acknowledged a spike in   
   grocery prices. On Tuesday afternoon, Trump played make-believe anyway.   
   Jan. 14, 2026, 12:00 PM EST   
   By   
   Steve Benen   
      
   Those hoping to see American consumers catch a break received another round   
   of discouraging news this week, specifically related to grocery prices.   
   Axios reported:   
      
       Grocery prices (or “food at home,” as the Bureau of Labor Statistics   
   calls it) rose by 0.7% in December, the largest monthly gain since the peak   
   inflation period in August 2022. Food inflation was evident at restaurants,   
   too: Costs for dining out (or “food away from home”) rose by a similar   
   amount, the largest monthly gain in three years. […]   
      
       Grocery prices were up roughly 2.4% in December compared to the prior   
   year. But that masks double-digit price increases for a slew of household   
   staples over the past 12 months, including coffee (+20%), beef (+16%) and   
   candy (+10%).   
      
   With these numbers having been released by his own administration on   
   Wednesday morning, Donald Trump had little choice but to acknowledge   
   reality a few hours later during his speech in Detroit about the economy.   
      
   No, I’m just kidding. The president lied again anyway.   
      
   “Grocery prices are starting to go rapidly down,” the Republican president   
   boasted, the same day his own administration told the public that grocery   
   prices are now rising faster than at any time since the end of the Covid-19   
   pandemic.   
      
   About a month after Election Day, Trump offered a candid assessment of why   
   he won a second term — and it had nothing to do with immigration, crime,   
   transgender Americans or even the economy in general.   
      
   “I won on groceries,” he said on NBC’s “Meet the Press,” adding: “I won an   
   election based on that.” Looking ahead, the Republican went on to vow that   
   he and his incoming team would bring food prices “way down.”   
      
      
   More than a year later, the president keeps pretending he has successfully   
   delivered on that promise — reality be damned.   
      
   And while Trump’s dishonesty is obviously one of his defining traits, this   
   specific deception remains one of his most self-defeating lies.   
      
   American consumers go to grocery stores all the time, and they know that   
   prices haven’t gone “way down.” Trump can’t simply wave his hand and Jedi   
   mind-trick the public into being happy about rising costs.   
      
   Common sense might suggest that any political leader in this situation   
   would have the good sense either to avoid the subject or to express some   
   degree of sympathy for angry consumers. But Trump, reluctant to acknowledge   
   his long list of failures, has instead decided to tell grocery-buying   
   Americans not to believe their lying eyes — or wallets.   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)