Why Trump supporters give him a pass on record-high unemployment

Axios ^ | 01 18 2024 | Emily Peck

[yesthatjallen]

Supporters of former President Donald Trump cite his economic record as a reason to vote for him, but that's a bit puzzling.

Why it matters: Trump's economic record is only good if you leave off what happened from March 2020 to the end of his administration.

Zoom in: When the pandemic hit, the jobless rate soared to a record 14.8% — a level not seen since the Great Depression.

The rate did come down a bit after that, but when Trump left office there were fewer jobs in the country than when he got there — the first time that's happened since Herbert Hoover was president.

There were long lines at food pantries. Gas prices fell a lot — to $1.77 a gallon in April 2020 — something both the former president and his supporters note. But that was because the country was on lockdown and demand for gas plummeted.

The big picture: Trump supporters may be just giving him a pass on the pandemic economy, as the New York Times columnist Paul Krugman writes.

SNIP

[Vigilanteman]

Home Depot, Lowes, Walmart, Costco, and the big grocery outlets were open. EVERYTHING else shut down.

Thereby concentrating the number of places where people gathered in large numbers.