President Trump has long been one of the most effective con men in American history, winning two elections by persuading millions to believe his exaggerated boasts and empty promises. But with early voting underway for the midterms, Americans are finally recognizing his chronic dishonesty, self-serving behavior, and disregard for legal constraints on presidential power.
According to recent polling, a majority of Americans now blame Trump's tariffs and his prolonged military confrontation with Iran—now exceeding seven months despite his initial claim it would last under eight weeks—for soaring costs of gasoline, diesel, groceries, and other essentials. An AP-NORC poll from October 1 found 71% of adults disapprove of Trump's handling of the war, and 65% believe his policies have triggered an affordability crisis. The New York Times' polling average shows less than 40% approval of his overall job performance.
Yet Trump refuses to accept these realities. On October 1, he insisted, "Everyone thinks the prices are high because of me, but they're not," and falsely declared, "We have the greatest [economic] numbers of any president in the history of our country." When a Time journalist noted his record-low poll numbers, Trump dismissed them as "fake numbers" and accused pollsters of corruption.
Trump routinely labels unfavorable polls, news reports, and electoral losses as "fake" or "a hoax," making him the most prolific purveyor of misinformation ever to occupy the Oval Office. CNN fact-checker Daniel Dale, who has tracked Trump for a decade, reported that by September 2020 he had recorded over 8,500 false claims since September 2016, eventually stopping because he "was telling so many campaign lies that I'd become physically unable to look into all of them." The Washington Post's fact-checkers counted 30,573 false or misleading statements during Trump's first term, including 503 in a single day before the 2020 election, which he still claims he won.
During the 2024 campaign, Trump pledged to halve new home costs, cut gasoline below $2 per gallon, "bring interest rates way down" (a power presidents don't have), and end Russia's war in Ukraine "in 24 hours." He also promised to slash energy prices by half and declared, "Every problem can be solved, and every wrong can be rectified." None of this materialized, underscoring that his current promises are equally unreliable.
An Economist-YouGov poll in September found only 21% of Americans believe Trump would deliver on his $5,000 check promise to every adult citizen if Republicans keep Congress. Another from August showed 50% expect the Iran war to last another year or more, despite Trump's claim it will end "immediately after the [midterm] election" and that oil prices will tumble.
Trump's policies have made life worse for most Americans: the Iran conflict, tariffs, healthcare and service cuts, tax breaks for the wealthy, harsh immigration enforcement that has caused labor shortages, rollbacks of diversity programs, voting restrictions, and attacks on press and academic freedom. In any normal job, such a record would lead to termination. Yet Trump asks voters to keep Republicans in charge of Congress so they can enable further damage.
As he campaigns for GOP midterm candidates, Trump urges Americans to "pretend I'm on the ballot." Democrats like me welcome that framing. The more voters focus on his failures and abuses, the more likely they'll turn out for Democratic candidates. Even the most successful con men eventually face accountability. If Democrats capture at least one chamber of Congress, that moment can arrive.
A. Scott Bolden is an attorney, NewsNation contributor, former chair of the D.C. Democratic Party, and former New York state prosecutor.
