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Melissa Joskow / Media Matters

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The Dow closed at a record high of over 37,000, exposing as hollow right-wing warnings that the stock market would crash if Democrats won elections

Booming economic conditions under Biden defy predictions of economic doom from Fox and Trump

Written by Zachary Pleat

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While he was in office, former President Donald Trump repeatedly predicted economic catastrophes from Democratic victories, and his sycophants at Fox News and Fox Business routinely echoed them and added their own, baseless blaming of stock market dives on Democrats. But they have been proved repeatedly wrong, including by the recent record high closure of the Dow Jones Industrial Average.

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  • Trump repeatedly warned the stock market would crash from possible Democratic victories

    • Days before the 2018 midterm elections, then-President Donald Trump warned that Americans could “lose a lot of money” if Republicans didn’t perform well. Politico wrote: “The president, speaking at an event at the White House, said that the U.S. has the “hottest economy right now in the world,” but said that the results of the election could hammer the stock market.” [Politico, 10/31/18]
    • In November 2019, Trump warned in a speech aimed at Wall Street that his defeat in 2020 would harm the stock market. [Bloomberg, 11/12/19]
    • Trump continued warning that stock gains would “disintegrate and disappear” if Joe Biden and Democrats won in the 2020 election. [CNN, 7/8/20]
    • During the final 2020 presidential debate in October, Trump said of Biden: “If he’s elected, the stock market will crash.” [MeidasTouch, 12/13/23, via HuffPost; The Commission on Presidential Debates, 10/22/20]

  • Fox regularly echoed Trump’s warnings of economic disaster from Democratic victories and baselessly blamed Democrats for market problems

    • A Fox Business guest claimed following the Democrats’ 2018 midterm victories that Rep. Maxine Waters (D-CA) would hurt markets by questioning bank CEOs as chair of the Financial Services Committee. [Fox Business, Mornings with Maria Bartiromo, 11/19/18]
    • Fox Business host Stuart Varney defended Trump’s claim following the 2018 midterm elections: “People did vote Democrat, and stocks went down.” [Fox Business, Varney & Co., 11/20/18]
    • As the stock market plunged weeks after the 2018 midterm elections, Fox hosts blamed House Democrats. Describing the plunge, Fox anchor Sandra Smith asked, “How much of this is … Democrats winning control of the House?” Fox Business host Charles Payne blamed “the tone of Democrats, who have declared war on President Trump.” [Fox News, America’s Newsroom, 11/20/18]
    • In August 2019, Varney claimed that electing a Democrat to the presidency would lead to an economic contraction. Varney said: “The Democrats seem to me to have a contraction plan. No fossil fuels, no private health insurance. That's a contraction of the economy, rather than the expansion that President Trump's got.” [Fox News, Fox & Friends, 8/2/19]
    • In early 2020, Varney downplayed the economic consequences of war with Iran, arguing that Democrats are more dangerous. Varney said: “It's not Iran that threatens our prosperity. I see a far greater risk coming from the Democrats.” He added: “Iran's not the threat. Look, it is a threat of some sort, I got that, but the big threat comes from internally, the Democrats. That's my point.” [Fox Business, Varney & Co., 1/6/20]
    • Amid fears near the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, Fox News tried its best to blame Sen. Bernie Sanders’ (I-VT) performance in the 2020 Democratic primary race for the stock market downturn. [Media Matters, 2/28/20]

  • Economic reality has shown these warnings from Fox and Trump to be false

    • Bloomberg immediately after the 2018 midterm elections: “Trump Said Voting for Democrats Would Send Stocks Down. So Far It’s Not Happening.” Bloomberg reported that immediately after the Democrats’ 2018 midterm victories, “the S&P 500 was up 1.6 percent as of 1:11 p.m. in New York, a third day of gains.” [Bloomberg, 11/7/18]
    • Wash Post: Even though Trump “blamed a marked downturn in the stock market … on the prospect of Democrats aggressively wielding their newfound oversight power” in November 2018, “U.S. stocks dropped sharply … on renewed fears that the tech sector has run out of steam.” [The Washington Post, 11/12/18]
    • CNBC: Stocks fell in November 2018 due to weaknesses in the retail and tech sectors. [CNBC, 11/20/18]
    • Vox: “Trump says Democrats are to blame for the stock market’s troubles. They’re not.” Vox added that the early January 2019 “stock market slide was Apple’s fault, not Nancy Pelosi’s.” [Vox, 1/4/19]
    • Nearly three years into Biden’s presidency a Barron’s headline proclaimed that Federal Reserve Chair Jerome “Powell Says U.S. Isn't in Recession, Sees Path to Economic Soft Landing.” [Barron’s, 12/14/23]
    • Reuters reported that the most recent jobs report showed “solid US job growth.” The unemployment rate also dropped to 3.7%, and average hourly earnings are up 4% year over year. [Reuters, 12/8/23]
    • USA Today in December 2023: “Dow hit new record Wednesday, and stocks are still climbing.” USA Today reported that “the Dow closed at a record high of 37,090.24” on December 13. [USA Today, 12/13/23]