If President Trump turns the first 10 minutes of his State of the Union address into his stump speech until Election Day, he wouldn’t just win a second term but likely the popular vote in a landslide.
On the eve of his acquittal, Trump had every reason to lean into his braggadocios instincts and take a victory lap around Democrats in defeat. Instead, he simply listed off the numbers, citing the factors leading to, as he rightly called it, our “blue-collar boom.” And as Trump delineated the details of an economy working better for the masses than it has in generations, Democrats were stuck scowling on the House floor in disgust of the successes to the everyman.
Trump could have led off with the record highs reached by the stock market, in which 55% of the public hold assets, or record high median household incomes. But he held those off until the bottom half of his opening remarks, instead making one of the most effective populist cases for capitalism.
Trump’s detractors will push back on his claim that our economy is “the best it’s ever been.” But listen to the statistics and decide for yourself.
We have not just the lowest unemployment rate in a half-century, but the lowest ever recorded for African Americans, Hispanics, and Asian Americans. The former also faces its lowest poverty rate ever recorded. Women, facing their lowest unemployment rate in almost 70 years, filled 72% of all jobs last year. Historically low unemployment rates were also achieved by veterans, disabled Americans, and non-high school graduates.
And it’s only then that Trump even touches the markets, which have succumbed to the pervasive populist myth that they only benefit the wealthy. Republicans have long boasted of trickle-down economics, but today Trump proved that a deregulatory agenda combined with tax cuts and consumer confidence boosts the bottom line the most.
Conservatives had ample reason to fear Trump’s freewheeling rhetoric flirting with protectionism prior to winning the presidency. But Trump tethered his best populist instincts focusing on those who need the economy to work for them the most with the most salient case for his candidacy: It’s the economy, stupid!
