SCOTT DETROW, HOST:
Throughout his time in the White House, former President Donald Trump loved to brag about how much, according to him, he was doing for the economy.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
DONALD TRUMP: From the instant I took office, I moved rapidly to revive the U.S. economy, slashing a record number of job-killing regulations, enacting historic and record-setting tax cuts and fighting for fair and reciprocal trade agreements.
(APPLAUSE)
DETROW: That was from Trump’s final State of the Union address in February 2020, which was probably in many ways the high watermark of his administration. Since he had taken office, employers had added more than 6 million jobs, unemployment had dropped to a low 3.5%, and the stock market had soared nearly 47%. No president has total control of the economy, of course, but that never stopped Trump from claiming credit.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
TRUMP: Our agenda is relentlessly pro-worker, pro-family, pro-growth and most of all, pro-American.
(APPLAUSE)
DETROW: But in a few weeks, it would all come crashing down as the coronavirus spread rapidly throughout the world. Here’s Trump addressing the country from the Oval Office back in 2020.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
TRUMP: From the beginning of time, nations and people have faced unforeseen challenges, including large-scale and very dangerous health threats. This is the way it always was and always will be. It only matters how you respond, and we are responding with great speed…
DETROW: Lockdowns aimed at stopping the virus threw nearly 22 million people in the U.S. out of work and sent the stock market into a freefall. Trump and his supporters like to gloss over that last part, focusing instead on the sunnier first three years of his time in office, the good times, which Trump insists he can restore if he’s granted a second term.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
TRUMP: Starting on my first day back to the Oval Office, I will end Joe…
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