The Dow Jones Industrial Average slid yet again on Wednesday, erasing all of the gains it had made since Donald Trump took office — as well as a key argument Trump has made for his reelection in November.
When Trump took office, the Dow stood at 19,827 points. On Wednesday, that number was even lower — 19,520 at the time of publication.
That’s down from a high of 29,398 on Feb. 14.
The market has struggled for weeks amid the growing COVID-19 outbreak. On Wednesday, the latest drop triggered the fourth automatic halt in trading in a month.
The stock market slide — thanks to economic fallout from the outbreak and related business closures — could spell trouble for Trump’s reelection hopes.
Trump has long touted stock market gains as evidence that voters should give him a second term in office.
More specifically, he has claimed that Americans’ 401k retirement accounts were performing well because of him.
“STOCK MARKET AT ALL-TIME HIGH! HOW ARE YOUR 401K’S DOING?” Trump tweeted in on Jan. 9. “70 percent, 80 percent, 90 percent up? Only 50 percent up! What are you doing wrong?”
He also touted market gains in his State of the Union speech in February.
“Since my election, U.S. stock markets have soared 70 percent, adding more than $12 trillion to our nation’s wealth, transcending anything anyone believed was possible,” Trump said. “This is a record. It is something that every country in the world is looking up to. They admire. Consumer confidence has just reached amazing new highs.”
He added, “All of those millions of people with 401ks and pensions are doing far better than they have ever done before with increases of 60, 70, 80, 90 and 100 percent, and even more.”
Trump has similarly celebrated market milestones, suggesting they were tied to his success as president.
“New Stock Market RECORD. Congratulations, spend your money wisely. KEEP AMERICA GREAT!!!!!” Trump tweeted just a few weeks ago on Feb. 11.
He even used the stock market success as reason why he shouldn’t be impeached and removed from office.
“STOCK MARKET CLOSES AT ALL-TIME HIGH! What a great time for the Radical Left, Do Nothing Democrats to Impeach your favorite President, especially since he has not done anything wrong!” Trump tweeted on Dec. 23, 2019, days after he was impeached by the House of Representatives.
Those gains, however, are now gone, as investors fear the loss of business and jobs thanks to the drastic social distancing measures that have been put in place to prevent the spread of COVID-19, the disease caused by the new coronavirus.
Trump has yet to comment on the stock market losses.
He did, however, comment on a gain a few days ago.
“BIGGEST STOCK MARKET RISE IN HISTORY YESTERDAY!” Trump tweeted on March 14 after the market recovered briefly from an otherwise dramatic loss one day prior.
All of those gains have since been erased.
Published with permission of The American Independent Foundation.
