近年来，随着通货膨胀成为美国人最关心的问题之一，每份关于消费者价格指数（CPI）的新报告都会引发关注。但本周最新的CPI数据因选举原因而格外引人关注：这是中期选举前的最后一份报告。
In recent years, as inflation has risen to the top of Americans’ list of concerns, every new report on the consumer price index has generated attention, but the latest CPI data was of particular interest this week for electoral reasons: This was the final report ahead of the midterm elections.
如果数据呈现利好消息，共和党将在关键时刻获得新的论调，借此主张经济状况已开始改善。如果数据不利，民主党则会指出，距离选举日不到三周之际，共和党治理失当的新证据再次出现。
If it showed good news, Republicans would have a new talking point at a critical moment, offering the GOP an opportunity to argue that conditions are starting to improve. If it showed bad news, Democrats would point to fresh evidence of Republicans failing with less than three weeks to go before Election Day.
对美国消费者——以及执政的多数党而言——不幸的是，后一种情况发生了。
Unfortunately for American consumers — and the incumbent majority party — the latter prevailed.
周三上午公布的数据显示，消费者价格迅速上涨，主要源于与伊朗的战争，而工资连续第六个月未能跟上通胀步伐。此前不久，美国就业增长数据也令人极度失望，这一连串打击在白宫最糟糕的时机接踵而至。
The data, released Wednesday morning, showed consumer prices climbing quickly largely as a result of the war with Iran, as wages failed to keep up with inflation for the sixth month in a row. This came on the heels of deeply discouraging data on U.S. job creation creating a brutal one-two punch for the White House at the worst possible time.
在数据公布之前，唐纳德·特朗普关于经济的言论就已混乱不堪——就在数据公开仅五天前，这位总统还错误地声称消费者价格“正在迅速下降”。因此，人们不禁好奇，面对这些彻底推翻他数月来关于生活成本危机言论的数据，这位共和党人将作何回应。事实证明，他的回应主要包括四个要点：
Donald Trump’s rhetoric on the economy was a mess before the figures were released — just five days before the data reached the public, the president falsely claimed that consumer prices were“coming down very fast” — and it was hard not to wonder how the Republican would respond to the news that discredited everything he’s been saying for months about the affordability crisis. As it turns out, his pitch included four main elements:
- 否认现实在周三晚间蒙大拿州举行的一场集会上，总统向支持者保证：“我们的通货膨胀非常轻微。”这种说法不仅让特朗普与现实脱节，也使他与美国主流民众的深切不满背道而驰。
- Denial At a Wednesday-night rally in Montana, the president assured supporters“We have very little inflation.”That not only positioned Trump against reality, it also put him at odds with the deep frustrations of the American mainstream.
- 编造数据在同一场蒙大拿州的活动中，总统声称近几个月通胀率已降至1.7%——我完全不清楚他如何得出这个虚假数字——并补充说，这比此前19%的通胀率有所改善。美国有记录的历史上，消费者价格指数从未达到过19%。
- Presenting made-up data At the same Montana event, the president claimed that the inflation rate reached 1.7% in recent months — I have no idea how he arrived at this false number — adding that this was an improvement from 19%. Never in recorded U.S. history has the CPI ever reached 19%.
- 改写近期历史特朗普再次试图将自己的失败归咎于乔·拜登，声称“我们继承了历史上最严重的通胀。”这根本不符合事实，部分原因是历史上最严重的通胀发生在46年前，部分原因是特朗普第二个任期开始时通胀率已降至3%——比现在还要低。
- Rewriting recent history Once again trying to blame Joe Biden for his failures, Trump claimed“We inherited the worst inflation in history.”That’s not even close to being true, in part because the worst inflation in history happened 46 years ago, and in part because the inflation rate was down to 3% when Trump’s second term began — which was lower than it is now.
- 简直令人难以置信的报喜不报忧“你们的价格已经大幅下降了，”特朗普在其政府发布数据显示消费者价格上涨数小时后补充道。
- Literally unbelievable happy talk “Your prices have come way down,”Trump added hours after his own administration released data showing that consumer prices had gone up.
换言之，面对自己在国家最紧迫问题上的失败证据，总统显然想不出任何前后连贯的话可说。
In other words, confronted with evidence of his own failure on the nation’s most pressing issue, the president apparently couldn’t think of anything coherent to say at all.
福克斯新闻在CPI数据发布数小时后公布的最新民调显示，只有22%的美国人认可特朗普对通胀的处理方式。鉴于他最新的胡言乱语，没有理由认为这一数字不会进一步下降。
The latest Fox News poll which was released hours after the CPI data, found that only 22% of Americans approve of Trump’s handling of inflation. Given his latest nonsense, there’s no reason to assume that figure won’t sink lower.
文章《“我们几乎没有通胀”：特朗普的中期选举说辞与不便的事实相冲突》，MS NOW
The post‘We have very little inflation’: Trump’s midterms pitch clashes with inconvenient truths MS NOW