For some reason Donald Trump hasn’t tweeted about the stock market this week. That’s peculiar because Trump has made it a sacrament of his presidency that the performance of the stock market is an indicator of his success. That has always been a downright stupid idea. Firstly because he has had nothing to do with it. We have been in the second longest bull market in history, and it started in 2009, at the beginning of President Obama’s first term. And despite Trump’s wild and unsupported claims that the market would have tanked if Democrats were in charge, the market actually performed better during Obama’s last year than it has during Trump’s first.
But that isn’t the only reason Trump is foolish to stake his presidency on the market. Investors will notice that the Dow Industrials are down about 300 points today, and nearly 500 points this week. This may be a temporary blip, or a sign of a coming correction. But it reveals the ignorance of the President tying himself to the whims of the market. As News Corpse noted just two weeks ago:
“Trump is going to regret his shameless boasting if he continues to insist that he is the primary driver of the market’s success. And it’ll be an epic backfire that puts real teeth into Trump’s backside. It’s always dangerous to rely on stock market performance to validate the economy. There are too many factors that can shift investor sentiment. It is a fluid indicator that could reverse course tomorrow. Indeed, many stock analysts regard the market’s current position as overvalued. These analysts are predicting a “correction” that could send the markets down significantly. Furthermore, the market does not reflect the economic realities of most Americans. Other economic indicators (i.e. wages) are showing only small advances. The beneficiaries of stock gains are predominantly the usual suspects of the GOP (Greedy One Percent).”
Trump’s obsession with market performance is recorded for posterity in his Twitter feed. Just this month he has bragged about the “Record Stock Market,” the “Most explosive Stock Market rally that we’ve seen in modern times,” that “The stock market has gained an incredible 7.8 Trillion dollars,” and “another big day for jobs and the Stock Market.” And there have been dozens of similar boasts since his inauguration.
However, Trump is silent today about the stock market that has commanded so much of his attention. If he really thinks that he deserves credit when the market goes up, then shouldn’t he be accepting the blame when it goes down? Of course not. In Trump’s world only greatness and glory are recognized. He will never admit fault or apologize for whatever disaster he causes. But he will take great pains to find someone else to blame. Probably President Obama, Hillary Clinton, the “fake” news, or the Deep State. And without a scapegoat, Trump will ignore the whole thing. So don’t expect him to mention this market decline tonight during his lie-filled SOTU. He has too many other lies, and his Russia collusion, to worry about.
How Fox News Deceives and Controls Their Flock:
Fox Nation vs. Reality: The Fox News Cult of Ignorance.
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