Two presidents boasted about the strength of the American economy this weekend, each claiming credit for the steady growth and declining unemployment as President Donald Trump seeks to parlay the nation's economic success into a winning midterm message for his embattled party — and former President Barack Obama reminds voters just when the boom began.
"When you hear how great the economy's doing right now, let's just remember when this recovery started,” Obama said on Friday in a speech that marked his first foray into the upcoming elections. "I mean, I'm glad it's continued, but when you hear about this economic miracle that's been going on, when the job numbers come out, monthly job numbers, suddenly Republicans are saying it's a miracle. I have to kind of remind them, actually, those job numbers are the same as they were in 2015 and 2016."
Trump disparaged the speech, at one point saying he fell asleep during it.
“If the Democrats got in with their agenda in November of almost two years ago, instead of having 4.2 up, I believe honestly you'd have 4.2 down,” Trump said Friday night, speaking of GDP growth. “It was the weakest recovery in the history of our country since, I guess, to be totally specific, because I'm not sure they've gone any further, since the Great Depression.”
“The Economy is soooo good, perhaps the best in our country’s history,” Trump wrote on Twitter on Monday.
Earlier this summer, he stood on the South Lawn of the White House and boasted about achieving a "turnaround of historic proportions" — an "economic miracle."
Donald J. Trump✔@realDonaldTrumpThe Economy is soooo good, perhaps the best in our country’s history (remember, it’s the economy stupid!), that the Democrats are flailing & lying like CRAZY! Phony books, articles and T.V. “hits” like no other pol has had to endure-and they are losing big. Very dishonest people!
The economy's success or failure depends on much more than who sits in the Oval Office, but let's take a look at the facts here.
Absolutely not. Trump inherited a booming economy with low unemployment and steady job growth — an easy win on day one — and he quickly claimed credit. Early in his presidency, Trump boasted about job gains starting from his election onward, crediting Obama's final months as his own.
It is extremely unlikely that the GDP could ever have been negative 4.2 percent no matter who was elected in 2016. At the height of the 2009 recession, GDP was at -2.5 percent. It has not been at or above -4.2 percent in 86 years.
Sunshine 