President Trump alleged that Democrats are hoping the economy doesn’t bounce back so they can capitalize on it politically.
“The people want to come back. You see what’s going on at statehouses all over the country. They want to come back,” Trump said at a White House meeting with congressional Republicans, according to Politico. “I think some people don’t want it really to come back, for political reasons, which is sick. 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.”
The president made similar claims in an interview with Fox & Friends, saying Democratic governors are seeking to extend the stay-at-home orders meant to prevent the spread of the coronavirus as a way to harm the president’s reelection chances.
“I will tell you, you look at some cases, some people think they’re doing it for politics. Here we go again. But they think they’re doing it because it’ll hurt me, the longer it takes to — hurt me in the election, the longer it takes to open up,” he said. “They’re being ridiculous. I’ve looked at a couple of states that are being absolutely ridiculous. But ultimately, the people are forcing it. I see what’s going on.”
The president’s remarks came the same day the Labor Department reported that the economy lost 20.5 million jobs in April while the unemployment rate also skyrocketed to 14.7% in April, up from 4.4% in March.
