President hears inflation hit a three-year high, says he loves it.

Thirty years on a casino floor teaches you one thing about losing streaks. The guy who is down big and tells you he is loving it? That guy is about to be down bigger. I have helped that guy find his car keys. I know that guy. Everybody in Atlantic City knows that guy.

Wednesday morning the Labor Department put out the consumer price report. Inflation is running 4.2 percent for the year, the worst in three years, and prices jumped half a point in May alone. Wednesday afternoon a reporter in the Oval Office asked the President if the report concerned him.

Here is the full quote, and I want you to read it the way he said it, at a signing ceremony, into a microphone, on purpose: “No, I love it. The numbers are great.” And then, in case anyone thought he misspoke: “I love the inflation.”

He loves the inflation. Folks, I have heard men say crazy things with confidence. I once watched a guy at the blackjack table explain that sixteens are lucky for him personally. Even that guy never said he loved the bust card.

The cleanup on aisle everything.

By Thursday the whole operation was in mop mode. The Speaker of the House said the comment was “totally out of context.” The context, for the record, was a direct question about inflation. That is like saying a confession was taken out of context because the cops asked about the crime.

The President then explained himself to a newspaper, and the explanation is its own exhibit. He said the numbers are “going to be phenomenal,” that they are lower than anticipated considering there is a war on, and that when the war ends the numbers will be lower than ever. So the official position is now that 4.2 percent is secretly good news, you just have to grade it against the war.

Meanwhile his own former allies are out here saying the obvious. One said the line is “going to come back and bite him.” You think? The clip was in campaign ads before the coffee went cold. His approval number hit a record low the same week. You do not need a guy on the inside for that math, and I always have a guy on the inside.

What the floor knows.

Here is the thing about prices, and I will keep it simple because it is simple. Everybody buys groceries. Nobody buys your explanation of groceries. When eggs and gas go up, a man can tell people it is phenomenal until his jaw gets tired, and every single listener checks the receipt in their pocket and knows.

The house always knows the count. And right now the house is every checkout line in America.

He loves the inflation. Somewhere a campaign intern loves it more.