The Republicans did so poorly in last weeks elections that Democrats and liberals across the country woke up to feelings of hope for the first time in a year. As the talk turned to blue waves, Donald Trumps attempts at damage control have not focused on defending the anti-trans campaigns of election losers that mimicked his own.Rather, he and his team have been spouting a series of lies to argue that hes fixed the economy. As that blue tide comes in, Trump seems to have realized that what people care about is something he has no interest in fixing: affordability. Related Republicans tried to make Virginias elections all about trans people. They lost everything. Some have called the Democratic wins last week a rebuke of anti-trans politics. That might be going a step too far. Trans issues were certainly an important point in some campaigns. In Virginia, Republicans for Winsome Earle-Sears reportedly spent as much as 57% of their budget on anti-trans ads. Earle-Sears lost by 15 points. In NYC, Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani supported LGBTQ+ people and ran an ad about Silvia Rivera, and he beat out former Gov. Andrew Cuomo, who was hesitant to court the LGBTQ+ vote this time.But its hard to believe that trans rights were the only issue for voters. Mamdani ran on a wide liberal platform, and his opponent has been charged with sexual harassment and previously had to resign in disgrace. Dive deeper every day Join our newsletter for thought-provoking commentary that goes beyond the surface of LGBTQ+ issues Subscribe to our Newsletter today Theres reason to believe that this was less a vote for blue and more a vote against red. People bought into Trumps promises of bringing down grocery bills and having everybody winning, and almost a year into his second term, theyre ready to show him how they feel about his performance so far in a referendum on Trump and his team.Trump seems to have finally gotten the message that polls have been showing for over a year: anti-trans ads dont change peoples minds, and most American voters would rather politicians focus on issues that affect most Americans than pursue anti-trans agendas. It would have been easy for Trump to charge out in defense of his anti-trans crusade. He could have said the elections were rigged (he loves saying that!), and he could have said that this was a terrible sign of Democrats working to indoctrinate children or whatever his latest anti-trans nonsense is. Any of that would have defended the whole line of rhetoric and supported those who followed his lead to run anti-trans ads.But we havent heard any of that. Trump has taken aim at Democratic talking points about the struggle that the average person is going through with their finances, claiming that those are lies from the con-people of the Democratic Party. He assures people that affordability isnt an issue, and everything is way down.Trump: Our energy costs are way down. Our groceries are way down. Everything is way down. And the press does not report it Thanksgiving meals 25% down. So I don't want to hear about the affordability. pic.twitter.com/hnyHp2wWRP Acyn (@Acyn) November 7, 2025The 2024 campaigns saw a lot of conversations about how the economy would improve. Kamala Harris touted various detailed plans and incentives that would be put into place in her administration. Trump just said hed make the economy better. It was clear that he had concepts of a plan and that those concepts went as far as the word tariffs.That blind confidence and lack of details to get bogged down in won him votes. But now that hes in office, its harder to believably blame everything on the party that isnt in power (much as he tries). Baseless claims about trans people might help to build a bogeyman, but when it comes to the economy, its harder to lie to people about their own bank accounts.You can tell people whatever you want, but at a certain point, when someone finishes ringing up their groceries, putting gas in their car, or evaluating their monthly budget, its not going to take long for people to go wait a minute this isnt better. But that political cliff seems to be exactly where Trump is driving his team. Either he believes the lies and fake numbers hes being fed, or he really thinks that the American people will believe that they have houses made of gold when their bank balances barely stretch from paycheck to paycheck.Hes claiming that gas is around $2 a gallon, while it was $4 or $5 under former President Joe Biden. The current average gas price is actually $3. While the average gas price did peak at $5 under Biden, it was for a very brief window in 2022. Gas prices vary wildly across states and largely depend on the taxes each state levies, not on what Trump is doingand one thing people definitely know is how much their gas costs.That ties into another of Trumps lies. Trumps team claims inflation is down, whilethe actual inflation numbers show it is rising. That comes with claims that they inherited 9% inflation from Biden, when that 9% was, once again, only for a short period in 2022, and the Biden administration reduced that to normal levels before Trump ever got back to the Oval Office. Trump wants people to believe that hes made groceries cheaper, despite eggs still being a luxury item for most families. Hes been excited to trot out an example of his cost reductions: Walmarts Thanksgiving Dinner is 25% cheaper this year! But thats because of cost-cutting measures from Walmartagain, nothing to do with Trump. Walmart has taken its meal from 21 items to just 15 and replaced many of them with store-brand items instead of brand-name products.Trumps whole pushback against Democrats affordability tactic is built on panic as he tries to win back voters who have been slipping away. An unprecedented proportion of Latino voters voted Republican in support of Trump in 2024, particularly among Latino men, but the majority of Latino voters favored Democrats last week. With a focus on anti-trans policies, price increases from his failed tariffs, and ICE agents harassing communities across the country, that might not be too surprising.Of course, Trump probably doesnt need to worry about campaigning on anti-trans rhetoric at this point. In less than a year, hes already done massive damage to our community. But that was a signature issue for him, and his willingness to drop it and the candidates he endorsed while they followed his lead shows how fickle and desperate he is.For years, weve been trying to point out that the emperor has no clothes on in the face of Republican lies. Now, Trump is telling voters they are wearing splendid finery, but those voters are starting to notice theyre still feeling the breeze.Subscribe to theLGBTQ Nation newsletterand be the first to know about the latest headlines shaping LGBTQ+ communities worldwide.