Democrats are bracing for the political impact of lifted lockdown restrictions across the country and other measures that could lead to a boom in the economy following the coronavirus pandemic, according to a new report.
Jason Furman, one of former President Barack Obama’s top economic advisers, gave a presentation to top Democratic strategists and donors last month.
He shocked the group with his prognostication.
“We are about to see the best economic data we’ve seen in the history of this country,” he said, according to Politico. “Everyone looked puzzled and thought I had misspoken.”
Trusted advisers to presumptive Democratic nominee for president Joe Biden and former Obama officials are concerned that a bounce back in the U.S. economy could take away a weapon they planned to use against President Trump.
“This is my big worry,” one former adviser to Obama told the outlet.
When states began shutting down businesses in March to slow the spread of the virus, economists predicted the biggest economic recession since the Great Depression.
Monthly jobless claims have soared in recent weeks, and Congress has passed trillions of dollars in spending measures to provide economic relief for laid-off workers.
Trump and his defenders have advocated for a quick end to the lockdowns and the prioritization of getting the economy back on track.
Some have gone so far as to accuse Democrats of rooting for the economy to fail, an opportunity that would allow them to cast Trump in a negative light.
“I think some people don’t want it really to come back, for political reasons, which is sick,” Trump claimed earlier this month. “But the people — the real people, the people that want this country to be great, and great again — we can say they want to get back.”
