As the 2024 election approaches, Vice President Kamala Harris has resumed her campaign tactics, using misleading claims and false narratives to attack the economic record of former President Donald Trump. This strategy is eerily reminiscent of the 2020 campaign, when Harris and President Joe Biden campaigned on the notion that the economy was in shambles under Trump, despite a robust recovery from the pandemic-induced slump.
The facts contradict Harris’ claims. By the fall of 2020, the economy was rebounding rapidly, with a 33.4 percent annual growth rate in the third quarter, the fastest growth in data going back to 1947. The Trump administration’s emergency economic programs, implemented with bipartisan support, were instrumental in this recovery. However, Harris and Biden chose to perpetuate the false narrative that the economy was in ruins, without providing a clear alternative plan.
Upon taking office, Biden and Harris unleashed a massive $1.9 trillion spending package, despite the recovering economy. This move was likely an attempt to justify their earlier claims and push through their own agenda, which included a significant expansion of government spending. However, the reality of escalating deficits and inflation soon set in, stymying their plans for further spending.
Fast-forward to 2024, and Harris is attempting to run the same playbook, this time with a rebranded economic vision. In a recent speech in Pittsburgh, she touted her plan as a pragmatic, pro-business program that would revive America’s industrial might. However, the facts do not support her claims. The economy under Biden and Harris has been marked by high inflation, stagnant manufacturing employment, and declining real wages for manufacturing workers.
Harris’ claims of adding 800,000 manufacturing jobs since Biden took office are misleading, as the actual increase is only 147,000. Moreover, manufacturing employment has been stagnant over the past two years, despite billions of dollars in subsidies. The Federal Reserve’s recent interest rate cut was partly driven by concerns about the softening labor market, particularly for factory workers.
Harris has also revived her habit of lying about the Trump economy, claiming that manufacturing jobs declined by 200,000 under Trump before the pandemic. In reality, factory jobs increased by 414,000. Another false claim involves a Goldman Sachs report, which she distorted to suggest that the economy would shrink under Trump. These lies are part of a broader pattern of deceit that has become a hallmark of Harris’ campaign strategy.
