Attending a Republican event in September, Trump-backed North Carolina congressional candidate Bo Hines lamented the state of the economy.

“Me and my wife, we can’t afford to give up a month’s salary,” he said, repeating this plaint earlier this month.

“With the 8.3 percent inflation, that is the equivalent of one month’s salary for the average American,” Hines said. “I know in my household, my wife and I can’t afford to give up one month’s salary. We have bills to pay, we have rent to pay.”

Somehow this seems like a slight contradiction since Hines reported having no salary at all in his certified personal finance disclosure. He filed this disclosure with congressional regulators on May 20, Insider reports. In fact, he reported no salary and no spousal assets. He also claimed in the disclosure he hadn’t excluded any assets belonging to his wife, Mary Charles Hines. Axios’s Lachlan Markay did a bit of digging and noted the 27-year-old Republican’s financial situation — he found there was no bank account reported. He also found no evidence of earned income or compensation, and zero loans or liabilities.

https://twitter.com/lachlan/status/1529866111159787522?s=21&t=W1V7GL3LH-_xLMdtO53sfw

While Hines’s campaign didn’t respond to Insider’s queries, Rob Burgess, his senior advisor did have something to say after Insider originally published the story. Naturally, his comments have since been added:

“Bo Hines has worked in and around his family business since he was a teenager. Upon deciding to run for Congress, he chose to fully invest his time and energy into representing this community. Bo and his wife Mary Charles, live a very modest lifestyle and understand the struggles that North Carolina families are experiencing.”

Burgess also had plenty of criticism for Hines’ opponent, Wiley Nickel, claiming the Democrat is wealthy and not really familiar with “what North Carolina families are crying out for,” thanks to his support for President Joe Biden’s “failed economic agenda.”

Nickel’s campaign also didn’t respond to Insider’s queries, but Nickel himself posted this on Twitter after the story was published, noting “My opponent is a 27-year-old trust fund kid. He’s completely out of touch with the needs of hard-working North Carolina families.”

🤦‍♂️My opponent is a 27 year-old trust fund kid. He’s completely out of touch with the needs of hard working North Carolina families. #NC13 #ncpol https://t.co/pIpovLF2Eh

— Rep. Wiley Nickel 🇺🇸 (@WileyNickel) October 17, 2022

And although Hines didn’t report a job or salary, he has personally injected more than $925,000 into his congressional campaign, according to recent financial disclosures he has filed with the Federal Election Commission. This covers campaign activity from January 1, 2021, through September 30.

The only asset Hines has reported on his personal financial disclosure is his trust fund, named Hines Children’s Trust, Insider reports. In May, Hines reported the income he received from the trust fund this year at somewhere between $100,000 and $1 million.

Hines is running for Congress in North Carolina’s 13th Congressional District. He was endorsed by former President Donald Trump in March. Trump characterized Hines as “a proven winner both on and off the field” (Hines is a former college football player) and a “fighter for conservative values.”

Hopefully, the situation will begin to look better for Nickel because right now a poll conducted by the nonpartisan Cook Political Report indicates the highly competitive race between the two is a “toss-up.”

Someone who funds their campaign via their trust fund isn’t going to understand the challenges working families face. Hines talks a good game but that’s all he is — talk.

Here he is, misleading the public in the video below.