Trump Calls Bitcoin Critic Peter Schiff A “Loser” And “Jerk” Over Inflation Claims

Donald Trump slammed Peter Schiff as a “loser” and a “jerk” after the Bitcoin critic said US prices will keep rising.

Trump’s broadside followed the economist’s remarks in a Fox News interview, when he said the biggest issue facing the US government now is “excessive” spending.

He added that he expects Trump to address the nation’s deficit through interest rate cuts and an overall “return to quantitative easing.”

“And all that means is that life is going to get a lot more unaffordable under Trump than it was under Biden,” he said. 

He predicted that the inflation rate will “accelerate as Trump’s term progresses” and said his policies “continue to impact prices.” 

“Most other prices are higher,” he added. “Yes, they may not be rising at 9% a year yet, but they’re continuing to rise.”

Trump Says He’s Fixing Biden’s Mistakes

Outraged by Schiff’s remarks, Trump launched a blistering attack on his Truth Social platform.

“Why would Fox and Friends Weekend (of all things?) put on a ‘Stockbroker’ named Peter Schiff, a Trump hating loser who has already proven to be wrong,” Trump said.

“He thinks prices are going up when, in fact, they are coming substantially down,” Trump added, pointing to the price of gasoline recently hitting $1.99 per gallon. “Other prices are almost all down,” he added.

Trump said that former President Joe Biden had caused the current affordability crisis, and that he is trying to fix it. 

While it is true gasoline prices have come down, inflation remains on an upward trajectory, with the US Consumer Price Index (CPI) rising 3% in September from a year earlier.

Schiff Fires Back

Schiff acknowledged in a follow-up post on X that some prices, including for gasoline, may be lower now, but said he’s not confident for how much longer that will be.

He also said that Biden had “a lot of help in causing the ‘affordability crisis,’ including from Trump during his first term.” 

“He’s not fixing it,” he said. “He’s making it worse.”

“Since Pres. Trump called me a jerk and a loser for claiming that prices are still rising when he insists they’re coming way down, I challenge him, or his designee, to a debate on the U.S. economy and the efficacy of his policies,” he said. “If I’m as wrong as he says I am, let him prove it.”

He then added that “given how much Trump hates the truth, I think he should change the name of his social media platform to Lie Social.”

Housing Affordability

Schiff also criticized housing policies, saying housing unaffordability is “a direct consequence of the government’s efforts over multiple administrations to try to make housing more affordable.” 

“But it has backfired like everything government does,” he said. “The only solution for the housing affordability problem is for government to get out of the way and let home prices come down, which they will do.” 

But he warned that doing so would result in another financial crisis because it would lead to many house owners defaulting on mortgage payments.

Turbulent Week For Schiff After CZ Spat At Binance Blockchain Week

It’s been a turbulent week for Schiff, an economist with 1.2 million followers on X who likes to stir the pot among Bitcoin maxis.

During a debate with Binance co-founder Changpeng Zhao, aka CZ, at the Binance Blockchain Week, Schiff championed tokenized gold over Bitcoin as a long-term store of value and inflation hedge. He argued that tokenizing gold takes the best of what the commodity has to offer and puts it on the blockchain. 

The debate made headlines after CZ produced a piece of gold on stage and asked Schiff to verify if it was gold.

“If I give you Bitcoin right now, we can verify it in several ways that you received it,” CZ said. ”It settles instantly and transparently on-chain.”

CZ then handed Schiff a gold bar.

”It says Kyrgyzstan, 1,000 grams, fine gold, 999.9, and a serial number,” CZ said, and then asked Schiff if it’s real gold.

“I don’t know,” Schiff replied.