Former President Donald Trump said he hoped the economy would crash within the next 12 months to improve his chances of winning the election in November.
“If there is a crash, I hope it happens in the next 12 months because I don’t want to be like Herbert Hoover,” Trump said. “The one president – I just don’t want to be Herbert Hoover.”
Hoover, the 31st President of the United States, took office just before the start of the Great Depression in 1929. His presidency is often associated with the economic challenges and hardships of the time.
Speaking to former Fox Business host Lou Dobbs, Trump openly expressed his desire for a significant economic downturn to hurt President Joe Biden's re-election.
“We have an incredible economy,” the former president said. “We have an economy that is so fragile.” And the only reason it's running now is because it depends on the fumes of what we've done – what the Trump administration has done. It just runs off the fumes.”
Former President Donald Trump expressed his desire for a significant economic downturn within the next 12 months to improve his election chances
In the three years Biden has been in office, the three-year inflation rate is 17.2 percent — or an average of 5.9 percent per year. Under Trump, inflation averaged 1.9 percent or 7.6 percent cumulatively over the course of his four years in office
Dobbs, a long-time supporter of the former president, asked Trump what policies he could introduce to help those struggling with the current economic climate.
“So what we're going to do is we're going to drill, we're going to reduce energy consumption, that's going to lower inflation, that's going to lower interest rates,” Trump said, referring to the Keystone XL Pipeline, a planned pipeline between Alberta, Canada and Nebraska.
Trump supported the pipeline during his time in office, but President Joe Biden did not and revoked the permit.
While Trump acknowledged the current fragile economic situation, he attributed all positive economic indicators to his administration.
Trump indicated that the economy was still being carried by the dynamism of his administration
Dobbs, a long-time supporter of the former president, asked Trump what policies he could introduce to help those struggling with the current economic climate
The inflation rate for the twelve months to November 2023 is currently 3.1 percent. The latest figures will be published on Thursday.
In the three years Biden has been in office, the three-year inflation rate is 17.2 percent — or an average of 5.9 percent per year.
Under Trump, inflation averaged 1.9 percent in each year of his presidency — or 7.6 percent over the four-year term.
As 2023 draws to a close, a new poll made clear the steep economic cliff facing Biden's re-election campaign. According to the poll released in November, only 14 percent of voters believe his policies have made them better off.
Overall, nearly 70 percent said Biden's economic policies have either hurt or had no impact on the U.S. economy, including 33 percent who said they believe the president's policies have “hurt the economy a lot.”
Biden and his aides believe they can sell a good message with “Bidenomics,” but voters disagree with most, who say they are worse off under his leadership
Democratic strategists Global Strategy Group and Republican pollster North Star Opinion Research surveyed 1,004 registered voters nationwide.
Only 26 percent said Biden's policies helped.
When asked what caused them the most financial stress, around 82 percent of respondents said price increases.
“Every group – Democrats, Republicans and independents – cites rising prices as the biggest economic threat by far”. . and the greatest source of financial stress,” said Erik Gordon, a professor at the Ross School of Business in Michigan.
“This is bad news for Biden, even more so given how little he can do to reverse the perception of prices before Election Day.”
The Biden campaign has dismissed dismal polls as nothing more than “noise” and pointed to similar negative headlines a year before Barak Obama's re-election as president in 2012.
Biden administration officials believe they have good news to report about the economy after bringing inflation down from its post-pandemic highs of over 9 percent.
The president himself has often turned to “Bidenomics” — his push to revitalize the country’s industrial sector and create good-paying jobs.
“When Donald Trump looks at America, he sees a failing nation,” Biden said recently. “When I look at America, I see the strongest economy in the world… leading the world again, the ability to set world standards.”