MSNBC’s Joy Reid confronted a Republican strategist with proof that the strong economy isn’t the work of Donald Trump, no matter how much he brags about it.
Instead, economic and unemployment growth during Trump’s term is the continuation of a trend that started early in President Obama’s term, when he prevented a second Great Depression.
The AM Joy host slapped a handy chart on the screen to show that Trump has done nothing to transform the economy, as he repeatedly claims.
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Joy Reid slaps a handy chart onscreen to show that the economy was just as strong, if not stronger, under Barack Obama. #ctl #p2 #Trump #AMJoy #ObamaDay pic.twitter.com/vqcVj1giNa
— PoliticusUSA (@politicususa) August 4, 2018
Reid said:
In the world of Republicans, Donald Trump is doing great, the economy is better than it’s ever been as far as a lot of Republicans are concerned. Let’s just show this bikini chart. This is our favorite chart here on the show. It shows you what President Obama inherited, that’s a deep tranche going down, the economy gets better, better, better. Then Trump comes along, he hasn’t appreciably changed the economy. The economy added 157,000 jobs in July, the unemployment rate did go down lower to 3.9%. So he gets a lot of credit for it, but the economy is not better in the Trump era than it was in the Obama era. Friday’s report shows job growth is slower, at a slower rate than in five years. So how is it that Donald Trump gets this sort of credit for having somehow revolutionized an economy that he hasn’t changed?
No, Trump doesn’t deserve credit for the economy
Trump and Republicans will try to slap their name all over the current economy, but they deserve zero credit.
In fact, as they brag about the current economic strength they inherited from the Obama administration, Trump and Republicans are taking actions that threaten to undo all of it.
Barack Obama spent years salvaging and rebuilding the economy that was destroyed by Republicans. When the pro-rich GOP policies that Trump has enacted crash the economy again, he and his party are free to take credit.
Sean Colarossi currently resides in Cleveland, Ohio. He earned his Bachelor of Arts degree in Journalism from the University of Massachusetts Amherst and was an organizing fellow for both of President Obama’s presidential campaigns. He also worked with Planned Parenthood as an Affordable Care Act Outreach Organizer in 2014, helping northeast Ohio residents obtain health insurance coverage.
