June 6, 2025 Editor, The News-Gazette: In an early June newsletter, Rep. Ben Cline wrote: “Thanks to commonsense policies, families are finally seeing relief and renewed confidence in the economy.” He added: “In May, consumer confidence rose by 12.3 points, a clear sign that commonsense conservative, pro-growth policies are taking hold.”
Cline’s statements are intentionally misleading and knowingly dishonest.
Consumer confidence improved in May, but only after it had declined for five months, beginning after Trump won the election. Confidence dropped further after Trump took office and began threatening and haphazardly imposing his series of tariffs. Consumer confidence in April 2025 matched the low of April 2020 during the pandemic lockdown. That plunge is the direct result of Trump’s nonsensical trade wars. When Trump began to back off from tariffs and stock-market roller coasters re-stabilized, so did consumer confidence.
The May return to pre-tariffs confidence had nothing to do with “conservative, progrowth policies,” and Cline knows that. Trying to spin the recovery from Trumpinflicted economic panic as a positive would be comical if it did not further reflect Cline’s indifference to truth.
And we have yet to see where Trump’s newest round of tariffs will plunge the economy and consumer confidence next.
CHRIS GAVALER Lexington
