Vice President JD Vance admitted Friday that the cost of living in the United States remains “too expensive,” citing housing and grocery prices as key concerns. But he once again shifted blame to what he called the “disastrous Biden economy,” despite the Trump administration having been back in power for more than eight months.
“Housing is too expensive, groceries are too expensive. Now, I would say they’re too expensive because we inherited a disastrous Biden economy, and we’re making progress,” Vance said during an appearance on Fox News’ The Ingraham Angle.
The remarks came amid a discussion of the struggling U.S. economy and its possible connection to the rising popularity of Democratic New York mayoral hopeful Zohran Mamdani, who has campaigned heavily on affordability issues.
Vance’s comments followed the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ latest Consumer Price Index release, which showed inflation rose 0.4% in August and 2.9% over the past 12 months. The August report also marked the first full month under most of President Trump’s newly reimposed tariffs, fueling debate over their role in price hikes.
President Trump himself referred to Mamdani as “my little communist” in an appearance on Fox & Friends two weeks ago.
“It’s only been eight months, but we’ve made a lot of progress, but unless we give young people a stake in the future, we can’t dismiss their concerns as socialism,” Vance continued.
“They’re going to choose socialism if given an option between free stuff and a bad life. We have to make sure they have an option between free stuff and a real life of dignity, of purpose. That’s what the American conservative movement can provide to them.
“But we’ve got to do a better job at articulating it, or they’re going to continue to be attracted to people like Mamdani.”
It comes after a Marist poll, released last week, put Mamdani head and shoulders above other candidates in the mayoral race, due to be decided on November 4.
Mamdani leads with 45 percent of the vote, with former New York Governor Andrew Cuomo in second place with 24 percent.
The pair is followed by Republican candidate Curtis Sliwa with 17 percent and incumbent Mayor Eric Adams, who recently announced he would not be dropping out, in last with 9 percent. Five percent of likely voters say they’re undecided.