Donald Trump Accuses Barack Obama Of Taking Credit For Strong Economy
Former President Barack Obama commemorated his Recovery Act on Monday and suggested that it “paved the way” for the United States’ recent economic growth and job creation. Hours later, current President Donald Trump took issue with the tweet, calling Obama’s comment a “con job,” The Hill reports.
“President Obama is now trying to take credit for the Economic Boom taking place under the Trump Administration,” Trump tweeted before claiming that the United States would be in an economic depression if the Democratic Party won in 2016.
Trump campaign national press secretary Kayleigh McEnany also released a statement addressing Obama’s tweet and echoed much of the content in the president’s tweet.
“Obama and Biden orchestrated the worst economic recovery in modern history. By contrast, though, deregulating, lowering taxes, and supporting free-market policies, President Trump has created the hottest economy on record.”
While Trump has been touting the strong U.S. economy in the run-up to the 2020 election, Democrats claim that the Obama administration’s repairs following the 2008 financial crisis were the real catalysts for the country’s current economic success. Specifically, Obama’s supporters point to the $787 billion Recovery Act as well as the decline in unemployment that began after the former president took office and continued to its lowest point in 50 years under Trump.
Face it
Obama was better for the Economy than Bush and Trump pic.twitter.com/f9px3BJUga— Randi Rhodes (@RandiRhodes) February 18, 2020
In addition, statistics from the U.S. Commerce Department reported in January claim that the moderate growth from Trump’s 2017 tax cuts has declined from a 2018 rate of 2.9 percent growth to a rate of 2.3 percent for the entire year of 2019. According to The New Yorker, the economic growth under Trump is par the course for the annual growth rate over the last two decades beginning in 2000, which conflicts with his boasts of the uniquely fantastic economy.
Trump notably touted the economy during his recent State of the Union Address earlier this month. In response, MSNBC’s Morning Joe host, Joe Scarborough, slammed the president and accused him of taking credit for the achievements that he believes stem from the work of Obama’s presidency.
“It’s just absolutely preposterous that Donald Trump suggests that had he not turned things around from Barack Obama this economy would be in terrible shape, when he’s riding the Obama wave,” Scarborough said, per Newsweek.
According to Scarborough, the recovery period for the global financial crisis in 2008 is 11 years. He also noted that Obama created more jobs in his final three years in office than Trump did across his first three years.
“The lies were preposterous,” Scarborough added.
