On Monday, Trump said in an interview that he hopes the economy crashes in the next 12 months to hurt Biden.
Trump’s Comments
Trump called the economy “fragile” and argued that “the only reason it’s running now is it’s running off the fumes of what we did.” He predicted that it would soon crash.
Repeated Claims
Trump has been predicting a crash for years. During the 2020 campaign, he warned that if Biden won, the US would “have a stock market collapse the likes of which you’ve never had.”
Not Materialized
Biden used this quote in December, pairing it with the stock market’s then–record highs to promote his economic policies. Nevertheless, a November poll by the New York Times found that voters still preferred Trump over Biden on the economy.
Selfish Desires
“When there’s a crash,” Trump said on Monday, “I hope it’s going to be during [the] next 12 months because I don’t want to be Herbert Hoover.” Hoover infamously oversaw the 1929 crash, which evolved into the Great Depression under his leadership.
Direct Comparison
In December, Biden said that Trump was “the only president other than Herbert Hoover who actually lost jobs in a four-year period. That’s why I often think of him as Donald ‘Herbert Hoover’ Trump.”
Worst Case Scenario
Hoover was “the one president I just don’t want to be,” Trump stressed on Monday.
Helping Himself
Critics blasted Trump for prioritizing his re-election chances over the lives of ordinary Americans. A president should “never … hope that hard-working families suffer economic pain for their own political benefit,” a White House spokesman stated on Tuesday.
Comparing the Facts
During Trump’s first three years — before the pandemic — the US added about 176,000 jobs every month. In comparison, more than 400,000 jobs have been added monthly under Biden. Even after job creation slowed recently, December still saw more than 215,000 new jobs added.
Unemployment
Trump oversaw an unemployment rate of 3.5%, the lowest in fifty years. Under Biden, it went even lower, to 3.4%. Black unemployment also hit an all-time low under Biden.
Unacceptable Comments
“Donald Trump should just say he doesn’t give a d..n about people,” Biden’s campaign manager, Julie Chávez Rodriguez, said. “That’s exactly what he’s telling the American people when he says he hopes the economy crashes.”
Reality Check
“In his relentless pursuit of power and retribution,” Rodriguez continued, “Donald Trump is rooting for a reality where millions of Americans lose their jobs and live with the crushing anxiety of figuring out how to afford basic needs.”
False Claims
Trump made these comments in an interview on the right-wing distributor LindellTV. He was widely mocked for claiming gas was up to $8 a gallon. According to the American Automobile Association, gas averaged about $3 a gallon nationwide when Trump made his claim.
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