Republicans appear to be recognizing that President Donald Trump's dismissal of "affordability" concerns as a "con job" is not resonating with voters ahead of the November 3 election.

In an analysis published Tuesday by The New Republic, Alex Thomas wrote that critics have long argued Republican economic policies fail the majority of Americans—and some contend those policies have actively hollowed out the middle class.

Vice President JD Vance, appearing on Joe Rogan's podcast, complained that Republicans permitted Wall Street to transform "every asset of modern life" into a profit mechanism. Homes, jobs, health care, and basic stability, he argued, are now treated as investment vehicles for the wealthy rather than essential needs for working families. Vance cited this dynamic as a key reason many younger Americans are increasingly open to socialism.

The Republican Party has spent decades advocating deregulation, tax cuts favoring the wealthy, union-busting, and free trade. Trade liberalization accelerated through agreements such as NAFTA in 1994 and China's 2001 entry into the World Trade Organization—both broadly supported by the party at the time—contributing to the loss of millions of U.S. manufacturing jobs, particularly across the industrial Midwest. When large banks and mortgage firms collapsed under the weight of risky financial decisions, the government intervened with bailouts. The individuals harmed by those same institutions received no comparable rescue.

Several Republican figures have begun publicly breaking with elements of the party's traditional economic stance. Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) has criticized his party over corporate giveaways and steep reductions to social programs. Sen. Bernie Moreno (R-Ohio) has endorsed restrictions on investors purchasing large numbers of homes across the United States—a response to the well-documented surge of institutional buyers acquiring single-family rental properties after the 2008 foreclosure crisis, a trend researchers associate with upward pressure on home prices and rents. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, in testimony before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, acknowledged that "free and unfettered trade at the expense of our national economy has shrunk the middle class and left the working class in crisis."

Thomas argued that these statements represent more than minor rhetorical shifts. He characterized them as a mounting acknowledgment that the long-standing Republican economic model has failed millions of Americans.

Thomas wrote that Republicans now find themselves in the position of "the dog that caught the car"—having identified the problem but lacking a coherent solution. Trump's economic approach, he argued, trends toward that of a "dedicated transactionalist" who has "stacked up a Jenga tower of economic policies that are largely short-sighted. Not the sort of ideas you would use to rebuild a party platform that has failed, let alone revive a crumbling economy."

Describing Trump's policies as "zaney"—at least "as much as they can be coherently understood"—Thomas called the approach a sharp departure from prior Republican doctrine.

The party's donor class remains its most significant structural obstacle, Thomas noted. While Vance speaks about restoring worker power and rebuilding private-sector unions, he will ultimately need financial backing from billionaire donors to build his own campaign infrastructure. The tension underscores a broader trend: union membership has fallen from roughly one-third of U.S. workers in the mid-20th century to about 10 percent today, according to Bureau of Labor Statistics data, weakening precisely the institutions that might counterbalance corporate power.

Vance has drawn parallels between artificial intelligence and the Industrial Revolution. Thomas observed, however, that the Industrial Revolution was also an era in which vast fortunes were created while workers had to fight for fundamental rights. The critical difference today, Thomas concluded, is that industrialists are already firmly in control, the labor movement is weaker, and the Republican Party remains dependent on the very billionaires who stand to benefit most from the current economic order.