Inflation Is the GOP’s Problem Now. Will Voters Look Past It?

WSJ What’s News

The Wall Street Journal

News, Daily News

4.1 • 4.2K Ratings

🗓️ 17 May 2026

⏱️ 19 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Inflation may have sunk the Democratic Party at the ballot box in 2024. But high prices at the grocery store and the gas station are now a problem for the GOP. According to the Labor Department, consumer prices in April saw their biggest year-over-year jump in three years and gasoline prices were up 28% from a year earlier. For our special What’s News series The Cost-of-Living Election, WSJ national politics reporter Sabrina Siddiqui met with voters and congressional candidates in and around Allentown, Pa., to uncover what stubborn inflation could mean for the area’s primary election this Tuesday. She then speaks with the sitting congressman for Pennsylvania’s 7th congressional district, Republican Rep. Ryan Mackenzie, about what he’s doing to address the rising cost of living. Relevant links: Tariffs’ Messy Reality: The Cost-of-Living Election | Part 1: Ohio Inflation Soared to 3.8% in April, Driven by Gasoline Prices Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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0:19.0	disaster relief, and economic empowerment.
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0:30.8	Keep bringing them. Keep bringing on. We got it. We got an extra person.
0:34.9	The volunteers here at Betty Lou's pantry in Pennsylvania's Lehigh Valley are getting ready for the next day's food drive.
0:42.2	Oh, did you get the rest of the side dishes, Chuck?
0:44.3	Yeah.
0:44.6	Did you count these?
0:45.2	They're moving empty banana boxes that will soon be filled with donated food driven in from around the area.
0:51.0	All the boxes.
0:52.2	The president of the nonprofit that runs Betty Luce, Chris Page, says he's seen more
0:57.4	need from visitors in recent years, as grocery prices have gone up and after the Trump
1:03.2	administration made cuts to snap or food stamps as part of last year's one big beautiful bill act.
1:08.6	I could tell from, in many cases, just the panic on their face, you know, I mean, I remember
1:14.3	talking to a few that literally were in tears, I mean, you know, over what was happening.
1:19.5	Page told me the pantry in Cooper'sburg recently decided to double the grocery store gift cards
1:25.8	they give people every month up to a $50 value,
1:29.7	specifically because of higher prices.
1:32.4	You'd be real surprised with the type of people, their personal situations, and the challenges,
	...

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