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‘Fantasy World’: CNN Fact-Checker Dismantles Trump’s Pre-War Price ‘Lies’

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President Donald Trump has concocted a “fantasy world” where prices were low in the months before he began his Iran war, says CNN fact-checker Daniel Dale. Prices are up and Americans are “unhappy.”

“When he’s been asked about the inflation or the unhappiness, Trump has repeatedly responded with lies — fictional stories about how low prices supposedly were before the war,” Dale reports.

He suggests that — unlike the president — consumers have a good memory of what prices were like in the days before the Iran war.

“But the president has concocted a fantasy — of sub-$2 gas, sub-2% inflation, and generally reduced prices — that bears little resemblance to the actual state of the country prior to the first strikes against Iran on February 28,” Dale writes.

For instance, on Tuesday at the White House congressional picnic, Trump told attendees that “inflation was at 1.6% for the last three months just prior to the war.” Last week, he had said it was 1.7%.

“Neither number is accurate,” Dale notes.

“The year-over-year increase in the Consumer Price Index was 2.7% in November 2025, 2.7% in December 2025 and 2.4% in January 2026,” he writes. “The inflation rate was 2.4% again in February 2026, for which nearly all the data was collected before the war began on the last day of the month.”

In March, it jumped to 3.3% and last month, 3.8%.

“We inherited high prices and we got the prices down, and we got them down to numbers that in some cases people have not seen before,” Trump said at Tuesday’s picnic.

“You know, when they talk about high prices, I inherited the high prices,” he told Fox News last week. “I’m getting them down; I’ve got them down incredibly.”

Dale explains that while some prices may have gone down, “the president keeps talking as if overall prices were down before the war — or even are down overall today — and that is clearly not true.”

Trump continued the fantasy with gas prices.

“We had numbers that nobody’s seen in a long time. So you had $2 a gallon,” he told reporters on May 7. “We were down — I think you were $1.85, $1.90 in Iowa, and a lot of other places.”

Dale hit Trump with a fact-check: “Nope.”

The day before the Iran war began, the national average price of gas was $2.98 a gallon, according to AAA.

“As for Iowa? Its average price for regular gas on both February 27 and February 28 was $2.64 per gallon, according to AAA,” Dale said.

Now?

According to AAA, the national average price of gas for Wednesday is $4.56.

 

Image via Reuters 

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Trump Is ‘Destroying Pillars of American Democracy’ to Gain Power: NYT

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May 20, 2026

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The New York Times Editorial Board, in a strongly worded editorial, says “There Has Never Been an Example of Presidential Corruption Like This.”

The paper of record is accusing President Donald Trump not only of “presidential corruption,” but also of “political self-dealing,” and “destroying pillars of American democracy to empower himself.”

At issue is what the Times calls the Trump Justice Department’s “$1.8 billion political slush fund.”

“Ostensibly set up to compensate those who the department claims have ‘suffered weaponization and lawfare,’ it will in fact reward loyalists willing to defy the law and commit violence on behalf of the president,” the editors charge.

They allege that the fund actually encompasses three of Trump’s “most alarming behaviors”: corruption, using the DOJ “as an enforcer to punish his perceived opponents and protect his friends and allies,” and attempting to rewrite history “about the 2020 election and the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on Congress.”

How is Trump destroying pillars of American democracy?

“He claims elections are legitimate only if he wins,” they write. “He uses federal law enforcement to investigate and prosecute his perceived enemies. He purges his party of officials who defy him. He describes members of the other party and civil society as traitors and enemies.” Trump “incentivizes his supporters to break the law on his behalf and rewards them when they do,” and he “directs his allies to change election rules to keep his party in power.”

The agreement to create the fund came after Trump dropped a highly-controversial $10 billion lawsuit which reports say IRS lawyers were intending to contest.

In exchange for dropping the lawsuit, Trump and his supporters would receive “government handouts,” the Times says.

Trump and his family would gain immunity from IRS audits, and his supporters who were allegedly victimized by government lawfare would receive payments.

Times editors note that the fund holds another purpose: encouraging “future lawlessness on Mr. Trump’s behalf.”

“It sends the message that he will use his power not only to shield people who break the law from accountability,” they say, “but also to shower benefits on them. Just as punishment is a deterrent, rewards are an incentive.”

The editors urge Americans to be “cleareyed” about what Trump is actually doing: “taking their money and showering it on criminals.”

 

Image via Reuters 

 

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‘No Fantasy’: CNN Analyst Says the GOP Is ‘Right to Be Scared’ in Texas

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May 20, 2026

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“Texas is absolutely in play,” CNN analyst Harry Enten says. He wants to put to rest the idea that Democrats can’t win Texas.

“Republican senators are running scared,” following President Donald Trump’s endorsement of Texas MAGA Attorney General Ken Paxton over mainstream Republican U.S. Senator John Cornyn. It appears Paxton is now favored to win the nomination for Cornyn’s seat.

A Paxton primary win, Enten says, could land Texas Democratic state Representative James Talarico in the U.S. Senate seat.

“James Talarico could very well win in Texas,” Enten says, noting that the scenario is now very different from 2018, when Democrat Beto O’Rourke tried to unseat Republican Senator Ted Cruz.

Enten also notes that “the numbers, at this point, absolutely support the conclusion that James Talarico can win.”

Cruz was up by seven points in the polls in May of 2018. Paxton now is down by seven points.

“Ted Cruz was actually decently popular, but Ken Paxton is anything but — in poll after poll after poll, he is underwater.”

Cruz “was clearly ahead. But look at the polling average now when you match up Ken Paxton versus James Talarico — it’s actually Talarico that’s ahead by four points.”

Enten notes that “Talarico is polling better than any Democrat in at least 24 years. You have to go all the way back to 2002 to find a Democrat, even polling anywhere close to where Talarico is polling right now.”

Texas Democrats have “dreamt” about turning the Lone Star State blue, and this time, “the numbers actually support the idea that they may actually be able to do it.”

The other part of the equation, Enten notes, is that in 2018 Trump was up by four points in Texas polling. Now, he is down by three.

“Trump is considerably less popular in Texas, which, of course, matches what we’re seeing nationally, which is that Donald Trump is less popular now than he was at this point in term one,” Enten said. “You put it all together, you look at the general election pulse. You look at the popularity of the potential Republican candidates.”

“Talarico winning in Texas is no fantasy,” Enten added on social media. “The GOP is right to be scared.”

Image via Shutterstock

 

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‘We Knew’ Sheriff Says — After Man Spent 37 Days in Jail Over Harmless Meme

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May 20, 2026

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A Tennessee man jailed for 37 days has won an $835,000 settlement after a local sheriff admitted that he knew the meme the man had posted was not a threat.

“I am pleased my First Amendment rights have been vindicated,” Larry Bushart said in a statement, NewsChannel 5 reported. “The people’s freedom to participate in civil discourse is crucial to a healthy democracy. I am looking forward to moving on and spending time with my family.”

Bushart is dropping a federal civil rights lawsuit filed against the sheriff, Nick Weems, an investigator, and the county for violating his constitutional rights.

Following the September murder of Charlie Kirk, Bushart posted a meme in a Perry County Facebook group.

The meme featured a photo of President Donald Trump, and a quote the president had made after a high school mass shooting that left two people dead and six people injured. The quote was, “we have to get over it.”

The meme also read: “This seems relevant today.”

NewsChannel 5 reports that “because some people misinterpreted that meme as a threat to shoot up Perry County High School in Linden, Tenn., sheriff’s deputies arrested Bushart for threatening to commit an act of mass violence at a school. He was held for 37 days, unable to make the $2 million bond set by a local magistrate.”

Sheriff Weems admitted to NewsChannel 5 that he knew the meme was not about Perry County High School in Linden, Tennessee.

“It doesn’t say Perry County High School,” the news outlet told the sheriff in an interview.

“It says ‘Perry High School mass shooting one day after,’ ok? That led people to believe in our county that he’s talking about Perry County High School – because it doesn’t say ‘Iowa’ either,” he responded.

“But you also knew this was an existing meme that was already out there on the Internet,” NewsChannel 5 pressed.

“Correct,” he said.

“So it’s clear that he’s not talking about Perry County High School,” the station confirmed.

“We knew,” Sheriff Weems said. “The public did not know.”

Bushart was freed the following day, but he lost a post-retirement job, missed his wedding anniversary and the birth of a grandchild.

A non-profit organization, the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression (FIRE), stepped in to help.

“No one should be hauled off to jail in the dark of night over a harmless meme just because the authorities disagree with its message,” FIRE senior attorney Adam Steinbaugh told NewsChannel 5.

 

 

 

 

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