President Donald Trump has long touted the impressive success of the stock market the past year, but after its precipitous decline, his spokespeople are backtracking his boastful words.
Weeks after the president claimed credit for “unprecedented success” with a “record stock market,” the Dow Jones fell nearly 1,600 points, erasing its gains for the year and marking the largest points plunge in the history, according to CNN Money.
Unprecedented success for our Country, in so many ways, since the Election. Record Stock Market, Strong on Military, Crime, Borders, & ISIS, Judicial Strength & Numbers, Lowest Unemployment for Women & ALL, Massive Tax Cuts, end of Individual Mandate – and so much more. Big 2018!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 20, 2018
Former press secretary for President Obama, Jay Carney, called Trump out in a tweet.
Good time to recall that in the previous administration, we NEVER boasted about the stock market — even though the Dow more than doubled on Obama's watch — because we knew two things: 1) the stock market is not the economy; and 2) if you claim the rise, you own the fall.
— Jay Carney (@JayCarney) February 5, 2018
The internet joined in on poking fun at the irony.
https://twitter.com/Neil_Before_Zod/status/960608882107322369
Trump boasted the rise of the stock market both on Twitter and in his recent State of the Union address. According to The Hill, Trump has tweeted about stock prices more than 50 times since his inauguration. Last week in his SOTU, Trump said,“The stock market has smashed one record after another, gaining $8 trillion in value.”
This statement was true, according to the Washington Post, but White House deputy press secretary Hogan Gidley, in a Fox Business network appearance on Tuesday, said that “Obviously the president did tout the stock market, but I would hardly say he focused on it.”
In the same appearance, Gidley said, “No question the president was involved and responsible for the increase in the stock market, but also the overall economy.”
.@hogangidley45: "No question the president was involved and responsible for the increase in the stock market, but also the overall economy." pic.twitter.com/TWOEMum628
— FOX Business (@FoxBusiness) February 6, 2018
It’s obvious White House aides are trying to distance Trump from the recent plunge, but Twitter has a long memory and is teeming with trolls.
https://twitter.com/pamela_lapier/status/960908978493575169
@realDonaldTrump also responsible for the decrease of stock market 😊😊😊
— Tiberiu Cazacioc (@cazacioc) February 6, 2018
https://twitter.com/SunsetMOM/status/960883669010350080
In an article by Politico, Charles Gabriel of the research firm Capital Alpha Partners said, “This is a risk that the president clearly set himself up for. Until now, Trump’s had kind of a free ride in this market and taken so much credit for it, even though so much of it was due to easy-money policies from Janet Yellen and the Fed. Now she’s out the door and volatility is back.”
But you can imagine when it comes bouncing back, Trump will be right there touting it again.