President Donald Trump suggested on Tuesday that the stock market would have crashed had he lost the race for the White House more than two years ago.
Taking to Twitter, the Republican leader said that Wall Street “would be down at least 10,000 points by now” if the “opposition party” won the 2016 presidential election.
“We are heading up, up, up!” Trump tweeted.
Had the opposition party (no, not the Media) won the election, the Stock Market would be down at least 10,000 points by now. We are heading up, up, up!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) February 19, 2019
Although he didn’t mention specific benchmark indexes, the Dow Jones Industrial Average has recorded an increase of more than 40 percent, or about 7,500 points, since Trump defeated the Democratic nominee, former first lady Hillary Clinton, on Nov. 8, 2016. A drop of 10,000 points would mean a 55 percent decline in the market index, which registers the value of 30 major public companies, including Apple, Nike and Walmart.
It’s not the first time the commander in chief has touted his administration’s positive impact on the American economy in the last two years. Trump has attributed solid employment gains — with January becoming the 100th consecutive month of payroll growth — as well as the rise in wages and salaries to his presidency, while hailing a $1.5 trillion tax overhaul that was signed into law in late 2017.
The comment was made as Trump faces an impending March 1 deadline to reach a trade deal with China and a possible end to the United States’ decadelong economic expansion. It also comes a month after a record 35-day government shutdown following a protracted battle with Congress over billions of dollars to fund a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border.
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