I’ll never understand how MAGA followers of the great Orange Messiah can claim the economy was better under Trump. They’ll also note how horrible the economy was under Obama and how much worse inflation was under his watch. None of these claims are true, and they are some of the simplest facts to prove. GDP and inflation are measurable, documented, and easy to access.
Inflation under Bush, Obama, Trump, and Biden
The chart below shows the inflation rate from 2000 through today. As you can see, inflation dropped below zero near the end of Bush’s term. MAGA will jump up and down with glee until you point out that the blip in the chart is not something to brag about. It was the Great Recession, the worst economy since the Great Depression. Obama took over that disaster and managed to quickly get inflation back to normal. Under Trump, it remained about the same until – you guessed it – the COVID pandemic. We can’t blame Trump for that, nor can we blame Biden for the massive jump in inflation that occurred when the country recovered from the pandemic. Currently, Biden has inflation right back to where it needs to be.
Conclusion: Inflation was high under Bush but average under Obama and Trump, then back high after the pandemic, and is now average again. Inflation, for the most part, is cyclical and no better or worse from President to President.
GDP – the economy under Bush, Obama, Trump, and Biden
The chart below shows the country’s GDP since 1960. GDP, or Gross Domesitic Product, is a measure of the market value of all goods and services created in the country. It is the defacto standard measurement for the health of a country’s economy.
For the most part, GDP rises fairly steadily. The GDP has only declined two times since 1960 – under Bush – and Trump. Bush’s lax bank and finance laws caused the Great Recession, which cratered the economy. Obama took over with a monumental task on his plate, but to his credit, he corrected course, and the GDP began to rise again. In fact, right before he left office, it began to climb rapidly. Trump took over, and the economy continued to improve rapidly – until the COVID pandemic. That is the second GDP decline in modern history. Again, we can’t blame Trump for the lousy economy – COVID was not his fault (although he certainly bears the blame for his scattered response to the pandemic, which surely aggravated the situation). Likewise, we can’t credit Biden with the massively increasing GDP that took hold as the economy recovered after the pandemic.
Still, the MAGA cult will claim time and time again that the economy was better under Trump. That’s simply not even close to accurate. The economy expanded at an annualized rate of 2.7% during Trump’s first three years and 3.5% during Biden’s. They will further argue that Biden destroyed the economy. Does that sharp increase in GDP look like a faltering economy to you?
But I’m telling you, Trump created other economic benefits for the country!
Sorry, but no. Trump’s tax cuts failed to deliver the promised growth, leading to soaring budget deficits that remained high under Biden. Additionally, his tariffs and trade deals did not succeed in bringing back all of the lost factory jobs. And there was the pandemic, an event that caused historic job losses for which Trump accepts no responsibility as well as low inflation — for which Trump takes full credit.
But Trump lowered taxes! He also promised it would result in “4, 5, and maybe even 6%” growth in GDP. Didn’t happen. In fact, strip out inflation and GDP growth averaged only 2.67%.
But Trump lowered the national debt! Trump claimed the tax cuts would pay for themselves because of GDP growth. Didn’t happen. The deficit reached all-time highs.
But Trump added more jobs! Not true. Even excluding the job losses during the pandemic, Trump added 6.7 million jobs. By contrast, 15.4 million jobs were added during Biden’s presidency.
But gas prices under Trump had never been lower! That’s because there was a pandemic, and nobody was driving, dumbass.
But by all means, MAGA supporters, don’t just take this from me. This is pretty simple stuff if you take the time to check the numbers instead of getting all of your information from Fox News and Donald Trump. Of course, I’m assuming you can read…
