President Donald Trump pauses as he speaks to media after a campaign rally before boarding Air Force One in Nevada.Carolyn Kaster/AP
On Sunday afternoon, President Donald Trump boasted yet again about the country’s job growth, arguing it’s just one reason why voters should elect Republicans during the November midterms. If Democrats emerged victorious after the November midterms, Trump tweeted, they “can never do even nearly as well!”
Best Jobs Numbers in the history of our great Country! Many other things likewise. So why wouldn’t we win the Midterms? Dems can never do even nearly as well! Think of what will happen to your now beautiful 401-k’s!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 21, 2018
While White House economist Kevin Hassett claimed last month that Trump’s time in office has set off economic growth, the truth is that overall job growth has steadily improved and unemployment has fallen since former President Barack Obama was in office. And in the 19 months Trump has been president, 3.6 million jobs have been created, slightly less than the 3.9 million jobs created over the same period at the end of Obama’s time in office. “When you hear how great the economy is doing right now, let’s just remember when this recovery started,” Obama told a crowd at the University of Illinois in September.
First 19 months of the Trump Administration: 3.58 millions jobs
Last 19 months of the Obama Administration: 3.96 million jobs
Job growth has technically slowed since Trump became President https://t.co/0xK9qzmbAK
— Dan Pfeiffer (@danpfeiffer) October 21, 2018
Trump has previously said that Democrats will end the sweeping tax cuts he passed in 2017, which he says have made the economy “the strongest it’s ever been in the history of our nation.” San Francisco Fed economists Tim Mahedy and Daniel J. Wilson warned that assuming tax cuts would spur economic growth in an already strong economy is “overly optimistic.” At the same time, Vox reports that the tax cuts have been responsible for a ballooning $779 billion federal deficit, the largest since 2012. Sen. Kamala Harris and other Democrats have called for repealing the tax cuts.
On Saturday, Trump said that Republicans were preparing to unveil a “very major tax cut” for middle-income households before November. Congress doesn’t reconvene until November 13.
