Republican Louisiana Sen. John Kennedy rejected claims President Donald Trump’s coalition is “falling apart” over affordability concerns expressed by many Americans.
Trump dismissed affordability of living expenses as a Democrat talking point, even as Republicans weigh how to address such voter concerns after Democrats leaned on the issue to win in the 2025 elections. Appearing on Fox News’s “The Sunday Briefing,” Kennedy pushed back on the suggestion new voters who helped return Trump to the White House are abandoning the GOP over affordability concerns.
“I don’t think the coalition is falling apart. I think that when the American people speak, you better listen to them,” Kennedy said. “And I think that we need— the president and the United States Senate need to be working on things that moms and dads worry about when they lie down to sleep at night and can’t.”
The Louisiana senator then said Republicans already have tools to address those concerns but lack urgency in using them.
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“And one of the things is the cost of living. What I’m telling you is there are things we can do that the president can’t do but, in order to do it, the United States Senate has to get up off its ice-cold lazy butt. And you can’t use the excuse, ‘Well, the Democrats won’t go along with it,’” Kennedy noted. “Of course they won’t. But we don’t need their votes. We can do it through reconciliation.”
After Democrats swept a series of high-profile November elections, White House Deputy Chief of Staff for Legislative, Political and Public Affairs James Blair told Politico that Republicans plan to shift their message toward affordability ahead of the 2026 midterm elections, following Democrats’ recent playbook.
“The president is very keyed into what’s going on, and he recognizes, like anybody, that it takes time to do an economic turnaround, but all the fundamentals are there, and I think you’ll see him be very, very focused on prices and cost of living,” Blair told the outlet.
Radio host Hugh Hewitt said Friday that Republicans could gain momentum heading into the midterms if they anchor their message on everyday costs and fuel prices. He argued that policies expanding domestic energy output are starting to ease price pressures nationwide, citing wide differences in gasoline prices while noting an overall downward trend.
“I think if the message remains ‘Affordability decides elections,’ Republicans are going to like next November because most prices depend upon energy. And the energy production policies that you saw Secretary [Chris] Wright refer to there and Secretary Burgum over at Interior are bringing the cost of oil and gas down,” Hewitt told Fox News host Bret Baier.
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