{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://www.murray.senate.gov/on-senate-floor-murray-ticks-through-trumps-most-wildly-out-of-touch-economic-quotes/", "On Senate Floor, Murray Ticks Through Trumps Most Wildly Out-of-Touch Economic Quotes", "2026-09-22", "2026", "2026-09", "Democrat", "Senate", "WA", "Patty Murray", "M001111", "www.murray.senate.gov", "murray", "https://www.murray.senate.gov/category/press-releases/", "scraper", "Murray: \u201cIt is everything. It is health care costs\u2014which Trump has sent higher. It is child care\u2014which is out of control. It is goods across the board\u2014which are up due to Trump\u2019s insane trade wars. It is gas\u2014which Trump launched to new heights with his Iran war. Trump just does not get it. He has no idea what Americans are going through.\u201d\n\n***WATCH: Senator Murray\u2019s full speech***\n\nWashington, D.C. \u2014 Today, U.S. Senator Patty Murray (D-WA), Vice Chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee, spoke on the Senate floor slamming Trump for the many wildly out-of-touch statements he\u2019s made about the economy and working families. In addition to ticking through ten of Trump\u2019s most out-of-touch takes, she discussed how Trump and Republicans\u2019 policies are making gas, groceries, health care, and child care more expensive for working families while pouring trillions into illegal wars.\n\nSenator Murray focused her discussion on Trump quotes below:\n\n\u201cI love the inflation.\u201d\n\n\u201c\u2019Groceries,\u2019 it\u2019s a very simple word. \u2018Groceries.\u2019 Like almost\u2014you know, who uses the word?\u201d\n\n\u201cAffordability is a hoax\u2026\u201d\n\n\u201cI don\u2019t think that a beautiful baby girl needs\u2026to have 30 dolls. I think they can have three dolls or four dolls\u2026\u201d\n\n\u201cI always say tariffs is the most beautiful word to me in the dictionary.\u201d\n\n\u201cI found health care sort of like not of tremendous interest\u2026\u201d\n\n\u201cWe can\u2019t take care of day care. We\u2019re a big country. We have 50 states. We have all these other people. We\u2019re fighting wars. We can\u2019t take care of day care.\u201d\n\n\u201cI don\u2019t want to drive housing prices down. I want to drive housing prices up for people that own their homes.\u201d\n\n\u201cWars can be fought \u2018forever\u2019\u2026\u201d\n\nReporter: \u201cI wonder what grade would you give your economy?\u201d Trump: \u201cA plus. A plus, plus, plus, plus, plus, plus.\u201d\n\nSenator Murray\u2019s remarks, as delivered, are below:\n\n\u201cAs President Trump himself has admitted: \u2018I\u2019m not so careful with what I say.\u2019 And: \u2018Americans\u2019 financial situation? I don\u2019t think about anybody.\u2019\n\n\u201cNo kidding\u2014we noticed!\n\n\u201cAnd when it comes to the economy, President Trump\u2019s statements could not be more divorced from reality\u2014let alone the experience of everyday Americans. Yes\u2014in a shock to no one, the billionaire who gets advice from a trillionaire is way out of touch today with everyday people.\n\n\u201cTrump said last year he never even knew the word affordability until recently. He said that \u2018tariffs\u2019\u2014the taxes that he raised on working families\u2014is his favorite word. Trump said we can\u2019t afford child care. He said no one cares about affordable housing. He said health care is not of tremendous interest.\n\n\u201cOr\u2014get a load of this\u2014Trump said he loves inflation. And that $4 for a gallon of gas is \u2018Okay.\u2019 And then when oil prices go up, we make a lot of money.\n\n\u201cWell, that may be true for his buddies\u2014the billionaires and oil robber barons\u2014but it sure isn\u2019t true for working families!\n\n\u201cOf course, I know it is hard to keep track of all of Trump\u2019s whack-a-doodle claims about the economy\u2014especially with the constant stream of new nonsense spewing out of this President\u2019s brain.\n\n\u201cSo today, I want to take a trip down memory lane and discuss what I consider Trump\u2019s craziest quotes about the economy and working families.\n\n[INFLATION]\n\n\u201cIt\u2019s no secret Americans are fed up with inflation\u2014at least all Americans except for one.\n\n\u201cPresident Trump has said: \u2018I love it, the numbers were great. You know what I really love? I love the inflation.\u2019\n\n\u201cDo my Republican colleagues agree? Do they love inflation? Because I will say, they have not lifted a finger to help us stop the Trump policies driving inflation through the roof.\n\n\u201cRepublicans have not helped rein in Trump\u2019s absurd trade wars. Republicans have not stood up against Trump\u2019s war with Iran. They have not helped reject Trump cuts to programs that lower energy costs. They did not stop the MAGA health care hike that caused insurance premiums to skyrocket.\n\n\u201cI know Trump is out of touch with everyday Americans when he says he loves inflation. I know it because I hear directly from people back in Washington state about this all the time.\n\n\u201cBut what about Republicans here in Congress? They may not be as blunt about it as Trump, but their actions\u2014or rather, their inaction to lower prices\u2014speaks pretty darn loudly.\n\n[GROCERY COSTS]\n\n\u201cNow, if you are not a billionaire like Trump, you are probably very familiar with groceries, and the fact that costs have been going up, up, and up.\n\n\u201cIf you are Trump, well then: you are saying things like: \u2018It\u2019s a very simple word, \u2018groceries,\u2019 like, almost, you know, who uses the word?\u2019 That\u2019s a quote. Or: \u2018It\u2019s such an old-fashioned term but a beautiful term: groceries\u2026 It sort of says a bag with different things in it.\u2019 That is a quote.\n\n\u201cFor most of us, the grocery trip is a weekly errand\u2014it\u2019s everyday life. But the way Trump talks about groceries\u2014he may as well be from another planet.\n\n\u201cIt\u2019s very clear Trump has no idea what it\u2019s like to clip coupons for discounts on milk and bread. He doesn\u2019t know what it\u2019s like to compare cereal boxes to see what size has the best value, or check the clearance aisle in hopes of finding a deal. And I would bet my bottom dollar he\u2019s never in his life bought the generic brand to save a few bucks. He probably doesn\u2019t even know they exist!\n\n\u201cNow, groceries may seem old-fashioned to Trump, but for everyone else\u2014whether or not we can afford groceries is the difference between being able to put a healthy dinner on the table, scraping by on the cheapest junk, or just going hungry.\n\n[AFFORDABILITY]\n\n\u201cNow, if you were wondering why President Trump doesn\u2019t seem to care at all about rising prices\u2014well, it may just be that a billionaire like Trump literally doesn\u2019t understand the idea of struggling to pay for something. The word \u2018affordability\u2019 is practically a new concept for him. He doesn\u2019t believe in it! He thinks it was made up!\n\n\u201cIn his own words: \u2018First time I heard it, was a word, you know, made up by the Democrats: affordability.\u2019\n\n\u201cHe said, \u2018Affordability is a Democrat scam.\u2019\n\n\u201c\u2018They made up a phony word that they used. They said, \u2018affordability.\u2019\n\n\u201cAnd he said, \u2018Look, affordability is a hoax.\u2019\n\n\u201cA scam, a hoax, a phony, made up word\u2014that is what Trump thinks affordability is.\n\n\u201cBut for families across the country, affordability is a very real problem\u2014one that they are having to deal with every day, and one that is being made worse by this President\u2019s own policies.\n\n[FAMILIES STRETCHING BUDGETS]\n\n\u201cIn case anybody thinks Trump doesn\u2019t have any solutions on affordability, don\u2019t forget this little pearl of wisdom from Trump: \u2018I don\u2019t think that a beautiful baby girl needs to have 30 dolls. I think they can have three dolls or four dolls\u2026 They don\u2019t need to have 250 pencils. They can have five.\u2019\n\n\u201cSeriously? I talk to moms and dads all the time who are struggling to get by. Families are already stretching their budgets and pinching their pennies. People are not struggling because they are blowing their savings on dolls. The problem is not their pencil budget. Good lord!\n\n\u201cIt is everything. It is health care costs\u2014which Trump has sent higher. It is child care\u2014which is out of control. It is goods across the board\u2014which are up due to Trump\u2019s insane trade wars. It is gas\u2014which Trump launched to new heights with his Iran war.\n\n\u201cTrump just does not get it. He has no idea what Americans are going through.\n\n[TARIFFS]\n\n\u201cTrump has already told us that he views \u2018groceries\u2019 as an old-fashioned word. He has already said he thinks the word \u2018affordability\u2019 is made up. But what has he said about \u2018tariffs?\u2019 You almost have to hear it to believe it.\n\n\u201cTrump has said: \u2018I always say tariffs is the most beautiful word to me in the dictionary.\u2019\n\n\u201cNow, as a reminder\u2014since Republicans keep trying to put their heads in the sand on this\u2014tariffs are taxes. A Republican president is saying his favorite thing is a tax increase!\n\n\u201cReagan must be spinning in his grave.\n\n\u201cAnd not only are tariffs taxes\u2014they are taxes that hurt working families especially hard. We have seen that time after time.\n\n\u201cTrump\u2019s tariffs have rocketed grocery prices through the roof. Trump\u2019s tariffs have made baby items\u2014strollers, car seats, toys more expensive. Trump\u2019s tariffs have put a strain on back-to-school shopping. They\u2019ve squeezed our local coffee shops.\n\n\u201cAnd Trump\u2019s favorite word is crushing small businesses too! I\u2019ve talked to local restaurants, and sporting goods stores, and farmers, and a lot more, they are all facing serious hardship because of Trump\u2019s tariffs. They are losing customers for produce that they ship abroad. They are having to raise prices in their stores. They are having to pay employees less, let people go, or even just shut their doors entirely.\n\n\u201cAll because Trump chose to pursue some of the biggest tax hikes in American history, while Republicans cheered him on.\n\n[HEALTH CARE]\n\n\u201cLet\u2019s not forget, Trump is also totally out of touch on health care. As Trump put it: \u2018I\u2019ve found health care sort of like\u2026not of tremendous interest.\u201d\n\n\u201cThat explains why he has done absolutely nothing to lower health care costs. And worse than that\u2014Trump and Republicans passed the largest cuts to health care in our nation\u2019s history, and then stood by and cheered as patients faced some of the largest health care price hikes in history.\n\n\u201cIn their Big Ugly Bill, Republicans gutted Medicaid, with changes that are\u2014right now\u2014kicking families off their health care coverage.\n\n\u201cAnd while Trump and Republicans are plenty interested in tax cuts for billionaires, while they will bend over backwards to help keep the private jets fueled\u2014they didn\u2019t lift a finger to save families from exploding [health] insurance premiums.\n\n\u201cThey stood by as tax credits for working families expired, and people saw their monthly premiums double, triple, or even worse. We know millions of people lost their coverage because of Trump and Republicans.\n\n\u201cAnd don\u2019t forget\u2014Trump put tariffs on pharmaceuticals, of all things!\n\n\u201cNow maybe a billionaire like Trump doesn\u2019t find health care interesting because Trump has never had to. He\u2019s never had to ration his prescription and hope it would be okay, he\u2019s never had to delay a needed check-up until the next paycheck. He\u2019s never debated whether to go get urgent care or not because he was worried about the bill, or wondered how on earth he could afford a lifesaving cancer treatment.\n\n\u201cBut that is the reality millions of patients face every day, and they deserve leaders in Washington who are interested in the challenges they face, and focused on solutions so that everyone can get the care they need without worrying about the cost.\n\n[CHILD CARE]\n\n\u201cNow, M. President, I of course have to talk about child care. I got into politics fighting for child care, and it\u2019s something I push hard on every day.\n\n\u201cSo I was floored when I heard Trump say: \u2018The United States can\u2019t take care of day care. That has to be up to a state. We can\u2019t take care of day care. It\u2019s not possible for us to take care of day care, Medicaid, Medicare, all these individual things.\u2019\n\n\u201cTalk about out of touch\u2014this is exactly backwards. We have a child care crisis in this country. It is holding our country back!\n\n\u201cA billionaire like Trump may not understand\u2014but working parents are the backbone of our economy. And if mom and dad can\u2019t find child care, then mom and dad can\u2019t go to work.\n\n\u201cThat is a big problem\u2014for parents who are trying to make ends meet, and small businesses who are trying to find workers.\n\n\u201cTrump says we can\u2019t afford child care? The truth is\u2014we cannot afford to ignore child care.\n\n[HOUSING]\n\n\u201cOne of the most outrageous things Trump has said about the economy was something he actually said behind closed doors. According to Punchbowl News, earlier this year, Trump told Republican leaders: \u2018No one gives a \u2018BLEEP\u2019 about housing.\u2019\n\n\u201cHow ridiculous. We have an enormous housing shortage in this country\u2014especially when it comes to affordable housing.\n\n\u201cThe rising costs from Trump\u2019s tariffs and the Iran war have made it harder for people to make rent. And because Trump has done so much damage to the economy\u2014federal interest rates are on the rise, meaning mortgage rates are going higher and higher, and millions of families are watching as Trump pulls the rug out from under them\u2014putting their dream of owning a home farther and farther out of reach.\n\n\u201cBut Trump doesn\u2019t care. And worse than that\u2014Trump sees high housing costs as a good thing. He literally said: \u2018I don\u2019t wanna drive housing prices down, I wanna drive housing prices up.\u2019\n\n\u201cSpoken like a true slum-lord.\n\n[TRUMP\u2019S WAR]\n\n\u201cAnd let\u2019s not forget that while Trump doesn\u2019t know words like \u2018affordability\u2019 and \u2018groceries,\u2019 while he loves \u2018inflation\u2019 and \u2018tariffs,\u2019 and while he doesn\u2019t care about health care, or housing, and doesn\u2019t think we need money for child care, there is one issue Trump is ready to throw trillions of dollars at\u2014war.\n\n\u201cHe started a pointless war with Iran\u2014with no plan, and no concern for how it would explode gas prices. Even now, he is saying $4 gas is okay.\n\n\u201cHe doubled down recently, saying: \u2018You have a higher gas\u2014it\u2019s a very inexpensive price to pay for what we\u2019ve done. Remember that. It\u2019s a little more. Frankly, even if it was a lot more.\u2019\n\n\u201cMeanwhile, he has put forward a completely war-bloated budget calling for $1.5 trillion for war spending. That\u2019s trillion, with T\u2014we are talking twelve zeroes here.\n\n\u201cAnd I know what you\u2019re thinking\u2014it\u2019s the same thing most Americans are thinking\u2014we cannot afford another \u2018forever\u2019 war. We have investments right here we need to be making\u2014child care, health care, energy, roads, housing, and more.\n\n\u201cBut Trump\u2014who once promised \u2018no more forever wars\u2019\u2014has actually done a complete one-eighty. Not only did he launch a new war\u2014he wrote online about his belief that \u2018wars can be fought forever and very successfully.\u2019\n\n\u201cSo to recap: Trump thinks wars can be fought forever, but we can\u2019t afford child care at all. He wants to spend trillions on bombs and weapons, but doesn\u2019t care about housing and health care.\n\n\u201cIt simply does not get more wrong or out of touch than that.\n\n[TRUMP OUT-OF-TOUCH WITH AMERICANS]\n\n\u201cThere are so many insane things Trump has said about the economy. But a lot of it comes down to one basic fact: he is in complete denial. Maybe it\u2019s because he has let AI videos melt his brain. Maybe it is because he is hopelessly an out-of-touch billionaire. Maybe it\u2019s just because he is exactly what he has always been\u2014a liar.\n\n\u201cThey say the first step is admitting you have a problem. When it comes to the economy, Trump cannot even do that.\n\n\u201cDespite the painful inflation, despite the sluggish job growth, despite the red flashing lights\u2014like rising bond rates, and slowing GDP growth, and plummeting consumer confidence\u2014despite all of that: when Trump was asked to give himself a grade on the economy, he gave himself an: \u2018A plus\u2026 A plus, plus, plus, plus, plus, plus.\u2019 That was a quote.\n\n\u201cA Plus? That\u2019s more like: BS.\n\n\u201cMaybe the high prices and chaos are working great for corrupt billionaires like Trump. After all, he has made more stock trades as President than all of congress combined, he\u2019s raking in billions through crypto scams, and his family is cashing in through highly conflicted foreign business deals.\n\n\u201cHowever, Trump\u2019s rigged economy is not working for working families.\n\n\u201cBut here\u2019s the thing\u2014we live in a democracy. And at the end of the day, Trump\u2019s final grade on the economy won\u2019t come from himself. The American people\u2014the ones who are paying the prices of Trump\u2019s tariffs, the ones who are paying the price of his war with Iran, the moms and dads who are struggling to find child care, the patients struggling to afford health care, the families struggling to pay rent\u2014they are the ones who will pass final judgement later on this year on Trump\u2019s economy.\n\n\u201cI have no doubt that in the meantime Trump will continue making out of touch statements and bizarre AI videos.\n\n\u201cBut here\u2019s a reminder to all of my colleagues who are afraid to stand up to this President: even if Trump has lost touch with reality, he is still going to have to face all of that this fall.\u201d\n\n###", 1, "2026-09-23T09:45:16Z", "2026-09-23T09:46:14Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://www.murray.senate.gov/on-senate-floor-murray-ticks-through-trumps-most-wildly-out-of-touch-economic-quotes/"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 1.0461402125656605, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}