(NewsNation) — President Trump gave his political opponents ammunition Wednesday when he said, “I love the inflation,” as he sought to calm Americans over rising costs amid the U.S. war in Iran.

Trump has repeatedly said high fuel prices and related increases in consumer prices will snap back once his administration winds down the conflict in the Middle East. Political commentator Bill O’Reilly suggests the Republican president was thinking along those lines as he made the comment in the Oval Office.

O’Reilly told “On Balance” on Wednesday that sometimes the listener has to dig a little deeper when analyzing Trump’s remarks.

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“It’s like the Tower of Babel — he speaks in a way that makes sense to him but for other people, it doesn’t,” O’Reilly said. “He ‘likes’ inflation because he feels, and I’m pretty sure this is true, that after he achieves victory … the high inflation numbers will come down more rapidly than they would if they didn’t exist.”

O’Reilly conceded that a more empathic approach might help voters understand the president’s goals in disarming Iran but said that’s not Trump’s style.

“You can’t govern by the way people feel. You have to do what’s right for the country,” he said. “He is a defiant president, and people who voted for him know that.”

Democrats who hope to retake the House and Senate in the midterm elections seized on Trump’s statement.

“Trump really said, ‘I love the inflation.’ On camera. For all of America to hear,” Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer quickly posted on X. “His contempt for you knows no bounds.”

House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries said on X that with Trump’s stated love of inflation, “We finally found something that Donald Trump loves as much as he loves himself.”

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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