Kamala broke it, and Trump's got a new team to fix it, and that's the subject of the riff. 

Are you better off than you were four years ago? That's how Donald Trump began his speech at the remarkable event at Madison Square Garden on Sunday. Think of it as a key closing argument.   

DONALD TRUMP: And I'd like to begin by asking a very simple question: Are you better off now than you were four years ago? | This will be America's new golden age. It's going to happen quickly too, very quickly. | On issue after issue, Kamala broke it, but I will fix it. We're going to fix it.

So, I've got three numbers from today's Wall Street Journal op-ed by Sens. Ted Cruz and Rick Scott, on the Biden-Harris affordability crisis — on wages, cars and houses. First, consumer prices in U.S. cities have risen 26% faster than private-sector wages. 

Second, a family in January 2021 paid, on average, $11,579 to own a new car, and coverage of related costs for the year. Today, that same car and related costs totals — $15,337. That's a 32% price hike. 

MORE AMERICANS LIVING PAYCHECK TO PAYCHECK THAN 5 YEARS AGO, BANK OF AMERICA DATA SHOWS 

The third number is the cost of owning and living in a home — $19,119 a year in early 2021 has now jumped to $36,736. That's a 92% hike. 

And let me sneak in a fourth number from the senators: The annual cost of owning a new car and new home is 70% higher today than it was four years ago. 

So, when Mr. Trump asks, "Are you better off than you were four years ago?" — the answer is a resounding, "No."

These are straightforward, kitchen-table costs — nothing fancy. They’re the stuff that middle-class dreams are made of. They’re the stuff that comprises the American dream for lower-income folks trying to climb the ladder, young folks just starting out, or certainly middle-income, hard-hat, blue-collar folks who are just trying to live the good life. 

Hat-tip to the senators: It's a good piece and, to that same kitchen table, I want to add the proposition that Kamala broke it, and Trump will fix it.  

Here is another closing argument from Mr. Trump, and a good one: He really has a whole new cast of people to make sure that he, in fact, will implement his promises and fix the problems. I'm just going to read off some of the names: JD Vance, Elon Musk, Vivek Ramaswamy, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Tulsi Gabbard, Byron Donalds, Hulk Hogan and Dana White.  

There are lots of other folks — both new and old allies — who are helping Mr. Trump, but this is an important representative group. From the Madison Square Group extravaganza, take a listen to one of the many great lines from Vivek Ramaswamy:  

VIVEK RAMASWAMY: If you want to seal the border, vote Trump. If you want to restore law and order in this country, vote Trump. If you want to grow the economy in this country, vote Trump. If you want to revive national pride in this country, vote Trump. | Donald Trump is actually the president who will unite this country, actually, and we don't talk about that enough.

Doesn't get much better or clearer or brilliant than that. I had to add Dana White to the list, because his UFC is attracting so many young voters to Trump, and I added Hulk Hogan to the list. No, I don't see Hulk running the Treasury Department, but he has earned his keep by correctly pointing out there were "no stinking Nazis" at the Garden on Sunday, and he's pretty cool.  

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So is Donald Trump — pretty cool — with his new team and his strong closing arguments, his Al Smith Dinner speech, his rally in the South Bronx, his barbershop visits, his extra salt on the McDonald's fries, and yes, his Madison Square Garden speech, which was seen by tens of millions of people. Mr. Trump is cool for one other reason: the people he surrounds himself with are all very smart.

They're not exactly Abe Lincoln's Team of Rivals, but the group, along with many others, shows that Donald Trump has the confidence and good judgment to get the very best people on his team, and that's why he can say, with growing confidence: Kamala broke it, Trump will fix it. That's the riff. 

This article is adapted from Larry Kudlow’s opening commentary on the Oct. 29, 2024, edition of "Kudlow."