Former president Donald Trump Trump has made clear that he views the economy as the most critical issue in the upcoming election. Over the next 71 days, Trump will double down on his strategy to convince voters that their financial woes are far worse than the Biden administration claims. His approach? Seize on every piece of negative economic news to paint a grim picture of the U.S. economy under President Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris.
Trump’s strategy is not limited to highlighting economic difficulties, but is actively working to undermine the positive arguments being made by the current administration. While Harris celebrates the low unemployment rate of 4.3% and acknowledges that prices are still too high, Trump is taking the opposite approach, labeling the economy as a disaster waiting to happen.
The fact that Harris proposes solutions such as banning “price gouging” on food and edible products does not help Democrats. Trump has dismissed these Soviet-style controls and branded Harris a closet communist.
This is what you need to know
A major part of Trump’s speech has to do with the labor market. Last week, he claimed that the Biden administration manipulated employment data after a routine review revealed that the U.S. economy created 818,000 fewer jobs than initially reported. Although Trump was wrong about the reasons behind the new numbers, he wasted no time in using them to argue that the economy is in worse shape than the administration admits.
“Americans overwhelmingly disapprove of Kamalanomics because no one can afford it,” said RNC spokeswoman Anna Kelly. “After three and a half years of sky-high inflation on everything from gas to food to housing costs, voters are feeling the pinch as a result of the Harris-Biden spending spree.”
Are there any drawbacks to Trump’s approach?
Trump’s pessimistic rhetoric carries risks, however. His negative view of the economy could become a self-fulfilling prophecy, leading to a further economic slowdown. If Trump wins, he could inherit an economy that is already on a downward trajectory — one that will be much harder to revive with words alone.
Trump’s predictions have been particularly grim. In January, he went so far as to say he expected the economy to “crash” in the next 12 months before he took office. He even told Lou Dobbs on Lindell TV: “I don’t want to be Herbert Hoover,” referring to the president widely blamed for the Great Depression.
Earlier this month, Trump blamed the global stock market crash on the news that Harris would replace Biden. However, the market has since recovered and the S&P 500 is up more than 8% since Trump coined the phrase “Kamala crash.”
The state of the economy is a big challenge for Harris
The other side of this economic narrative belongs to Vice President Harris. Her challenge is to maintain credibility with voters while promoting an economy that, for many, isn’t working for them. She is trying to highlight the positives without appearing oblivious to the struggles facing ordinary Americans.
Historically, presidential candidates have often focused on negative economic data to stoke consumer concerns. Biden did so against Trump four years ago, and it was a key strategy in previous elections as well. Now, Trump is pursuing the same strategy, hoping to convince voters that the economy is not performing well enough under Biden’s leadership.
Americans trust Trump more than Harris on the economy
Trump leads Harris in polls on who Americans trust most to manage the economy. But voters are also aware that Harris has had limited influence on Biden’s economic policies, making Trump’s task of linking her directly to the economy more difficult.
Ultimately, Trump’s economic gamble is a high-risk strategy. If he can convince voters that their economic woes are due to the policies of the current administration, he could do well at the polls. But if his pessimistic rhetoric backfires, he could end up inheriting an economy that is harder to fix than he expected.
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