Brunswick Beacon, 04.18.24
Emboldened by his ability to convince 39% of Republicans to support political violence, Trump is auditioning a new Jedi mind trick. He wants you to believe you were better off four years ago, as if 2020 wasn’t the COVID-ravaged dumpster fire that made Americans hoard toilet paper.
Despite being warned that COVID could kill 2 million Americans and cause $6 trillion in economic damage, Trump falsely claimed, “we have it totally under control.” His lie was exposed on live TV. Deaths skyrocketed. Refrigerated trucks served as temporary morgues. Thousands were buried in mass graves.
The economy shut down in March 2020, shrinking 3.5%. It was the worst year for economic growth since 1946. We lost 20.5 million jobs in April. Unemployment soared to 14.7%. Trump became the first president since Herbert Hoover during the Great Depression to finish with fewer jobs than he started with.
Four years ago, stock markets collapsed, having their worst week since 2008’s Great Recession. Under President Biden, the Dow Jones, S&P 500 and NASDAQ just hit record highs; 36%, 56% and 69% higher, respectively, than they ever were under Trump.
Succeeding where Trump failed, Biden passed the Bipartisan Infrastructure Act, the American Rescue Plan, the Inflation Reduction Act, and the CHIPS Act, which helped our economy recover from COVID much faster than from any recession in over 40 years, with higher growth and lower inflation than comparable developed nations.
Trump’s apologists, like Carol Phillips in March 28’s Beacon, falsely claim that “all the jobs Biden takes credit for” are “those returning after COVID.” Those jobs were never guaranteed to return. Thanks to Biden, they returned by July 2022. Since then, Biden has averaged 267,000 jobs/month, 43% better than the 186,000 jobs/month Trump averaged before COVID!
Trump bungled COVID. Asking, “Are you better off now than you were four years ago?” is like asking Mrs. Lincoln if Abe would have been better off skipping the play.
Rich Cooper
Leland