Vice President JD Vance defended President Donald Trump’s self-awarded “A+” on the economy under pointed questioning from CNN anchor Kaitlan Collins on Thursday, Oct. 8, 2026, while offering a closing-stretch midterm message softer than the president’s, saying he hears voters’ frustration and that the fix is not finished.
The grade Collins asked about came from a Trump interview with Fox News. “I inherited very, very high costs, and they’re all coming down now. The food, the groceries. It’s all coming down,” Trump said in that interview. He added: “We’ve done a great job. You know, I think we should be given an A+ on the economy.”
Collins Presses on Prices
Collins pressed Vance on why the administration deserves top marks when inflation, gas prices and mortgage rates have all risen since it took office.
Vance said the administration inherited what he called the worst inflation crisis in 48 years. He credited $19 trillion in new investment, a manufacturing boom and a surge in factory construction, and he argued that factories take time to build and staff. “You’re already seeing great benefits, but we’re going to see a lot more benefits come in the months and years ahead,” Vance told Collins.
Annual inflation was around 3 percent and now stands at 3.6 percent, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Gasoline is currently standing at an average of $4.40, according to AAA, after sitting below $3 before the February strikes on Iran.
CNN polling has found that just 27 percent of voters approve of Trump’s handling of the economy.
Vance announced the suspension of Microsoft from the PERM green card program at an appearance the same day. He accused the company of abusing the H-1B visa program and replacing American workers with foreign workers.
Trump Gives Himself Top Marks
Trump has defended the grade himself. He told reporters while traveling to a campaign event in Texas that he deserved an “A+” across the board, and he dismissed the economic pain of the war with Iran as the price of stopping that country from building a nuclear weapon.
Trump said in late September that more Americans are working than at any point in the nation’s history, but that almost nobody knows it. He said he sells the record himself because other Republicans are not.
An AP-NORC poll in late September found that 82 percent of adults disapprove of Trump’s handling of the cost of living and 17 percent approve. The September jobs report showed just 29,000 positions added, far below expectations. Wages are failing to keep pace with inflation, consumer sentiment has dropped near an all-time low and mortgage rates have climbed to their highest level since late 2023.
A 32-Day Campaign Blitz
Trump launched a 32-day midterm campaign blitz on Thursday, Oct. 1. He began with a tour of a Peterbilt Motors truck plant in Denton, Texas.
His second stop was an evening rally in Durant, Oklahoma, for gubernatorial candidate Mike Mazzei. Trump said he is worried about the races in Michigan and Texas, and he has pledged to campaign in roughly three dozen competitive contests.
Vance campaigned in Texas for House candidate Eric Flores before his Florida stop for Rep. Byron Donalds, R-Fla., the Republican nominee for governor.
“Rome wasn’t built in a day,” Vance told crowds at several rallies. He said in an interview with Real America’s Voice that no one should have expected every problem solved in 18 months and that people’s concerns cannot be waved away.
Vance urged the audience at the All-In Summit in September, a gathering of business, tech and investment leaders, not to hand power back to those who created the problems he says the administration is repairing, and he asked for another couple of years for Republicans.
Vance said at a Breitbart News event in Washington on Thursday, Nov. 20, 2025, that the administration heard the public and knew progress would take time to feel. That event came weeks after Republican losses in New Jersey and Virginia, which voters largely attributed to disappointment with Trump’s domestic agenda.
Vance Weighs 2028 Timing
Vance, 42, is widely viewed as the leading Republican prospect for 2028, and he has consistently said any decision waits until after the midterms.
Vance answered a question about whether a poor showing on Nov. 3 would weigh on his thinking in an interview published Oct. 1 and conducted aboard Air Force Two on a return flight from Lakeland, Fla. “You make these decisions by collecting as much information and trying to make a wise decision,” he said. He added: “Regardless of what happens over the next 35 days, there will be new information, new things you have to make a decision over.”
Vance had made campaign stops in Lakeland for Sen. Ashley Moody, R-Fla., and Donalds. He acknowledged that the party faces a historical uphill climb. He remained noncommittal on whether heavy losses would sour the climate for a run, avoided hypotheticals and left the verdict to voters.
The White House said in a statement that the president and vice president are delivering one message: that if Republicans hold Congress and keep advancing Trump’s agenda, American families will have more money, secure borders and safer streets.