Trump boasts about US economy ahead of 2020 election
Now that the Mueller investigation has concluded, President Trump is shifting his focus to the 2020 election.
At a campaign rally in Grand Rapids, Michigan on Thursday, the president touted the glowing economy saying, “We've embarked on an unprecedented economic revival” and that “America is now the hottest economy anywhere on the planet Earth.”
FOX Business’ Charles Payne says that the success in the economy just shows how despite having “elites out there who sort of look down on him,” Trump has “achieved more than his critics who say he’s unqualified.”
Payne adds that Trump is able to connect with his base so well because of the president’s ability to rise to the challenge and “achieve certain things” despite the adversity he faces from his critics.
“I think that folks in the audience identify with [President Trump] because they feel like they’ve been put down their entire lives, that they’re the underdogs, that they’re the forgotten man and woman in this country and I think that’s how he connects with them.”
Wall Street Journal editorial page writer Jillian Melchior agrees that there is a “really interesting sort of inside joke dynamic going on when he says some of these things that his base just loves.” Looking at the 2020 election, she says highlighting the Trump administration’s economic successes is the strategy Trump should use during the campaign.
“That’s something almost indisputably strong, it’s something that benefits voters across the political spectrum and to win a general election, I think he’s going to have to persuade them,” Melchior said during an interview on “Making Money” Friday.
While District Media Group president Beverly Hallberg agrees with Melchior, she believes that one improvement Trump can make, which he failed to do in Grand Rapids, is to solely “focus on the economy moving forward” and avoid attacking his critics or making the accomplishments all about him.
“If he had solely talked about promoting the economy…I think it would’ve been very effective for him, but just like Democrats seem to be poor losers, I think Donald Trump on occasion tends to be a bad winner,” she said. Hallberg believes that “he takes these kind of self-aggrandizing jabs in a positive way at himself and I don’t think that helps him.”
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She admits that while his critics are “never going to say anything nice about him” the president is “only giving them soundbites that I think for the average American out there they say even if I like what he’s doing…what we would like is for the president to be a little bit more presidential.”
“I think you can talk very tough without having to pat yourself on the back,” Hallberg added.
According to a CNN poll, 71 percent of Americans say the nation's economy is in good shape and 51 percent give Trump positive reviews for his handling of the economy.