Falling Walmart prices give Kamala Harris a huge victory

Walmart has announced it will slash prices on thousands of products, a move that could be a major victory for Kamala Harris ahead of the November presidential election.

The retail giant will cut prices on more than 7,000 items, including groceries, just two months before Election Day. “As far as value goes, we are cutting prices,” Walmart CEO Doug McMillon said on a conference call with investors about second-quarter earnings, according to CNBC. “We have less upward pressure, but there are some who are still talking about cost increases, and we are aggressively fighting back against that because we believe prices need to come down.”

The retailer's headline inflation was unchanged in the quarter and sales growth came from selling more units rather than charging higher prices, Chief Financial Officer John David Rainey told CNBC.. “We want to keep prices low every day,” Rainey added on the call. “We do not intend to improve our margin performance by passing that on to our customers and members in the form of higher prices.”

Walmart is not the only retailer to take this step. According to The New York TimesSwedish furniture giant Ikea has cut prices three times in the past year, Best Buy has slashed prices on its home appliances and arts and crafts chain Michaels said it has slashed prices on 5,000 items, including canvases and T-shirts.

How is this a victory for Harris?

Harris is already trying to woo voters with plans to cut costs for Americans, including lowering food prices, banning price gouging and helping first-time home buyers buy.

If she follows through on her promises while serving as outgoing Joe Biden's vice president, it could shine in her face in the presidential election – and Americans who are unhappy with the economic situation should be happy about the news of Walmart's price cut.

According to surveys conducted exclusively for Newsweek According to a study by Redfield & Wilton Strategies, 46 percent of Americans believe the economy is in worse shape than it was in January 2021, when Donald Trump left the White House. In comparison, 33 percent of respondents hold the opposite view.

Forty-one percent of the 1,500 voters surveyed on August 15 said the economic situation is currently bad. Forty-seven percent said Harris, as vice president, bears a great deal of responsibility for this.

“Our economy is the strongest in the world by any measure,” Harris said during the campaign in North Carolina. “Many Americans are not yet feeling this progress in their daily lives.”

But Harris already enjoys more trust on economic issues, albeit only slightly. with a recent survey by Financial Times and the Ross School of Business at the University of Michigan 42 percent of voters believe that she would cope better with this than her opponent. Trumpwhich 41 percent of respondents trusted. Their rating was also seven percentage points higher than Biden's figures from last month.

Flavio Hickel, associate professor of political science at Washington College, said Newsweek: “I think the impact of reduced prices everywhere – but especially in the grocery space and particularly at Walmart – is going to be that that message, whether it's heard through traditional media, social media or word of mouth, will signal to a lot of people that the economy as a whole is recovering.”

“This will obviously benefit the Harris campaign because they are the incumbent party,” he continued, but warned that the scope may be somewhat limited.

“This news will not change the minds of Trump and Harris' ardent supporters. The positive effect for Harris is likely to be limited to the smaller portion of Biden voters who are considering supporting Trump for economic reasons and the very small percentage of voters who are still undecided,” Hickel said.