President Donald Trump said Tuesday that the media “would love to see a recession,” a narrative ripped straight from “Fox and Friends” hosts who have twisted gloomy economic forecasts into a diabolical liberal plot to foil Trump’s reelection chances.
“The media would love to see a recession,” Trump told reporters in the Oval Office. “We’re far from a recession.”
The stock market has been topsy-turvy over the past week amid Trump’s ongoing trade war with China and volatility in the bond market.
Fox News’ Ainsley Earhardt said Monday, on Trump’s favorite program, that it’s “obvious” the media is trying to manipulate the markets.
“I’m watching this and I’m like, ‘it’s so obvious what they’re doing!'” she said. “They do not want him to win again! And they don’t like that the economy’s doing well, apparently.”
Fox and Friends spouts baseless theory that media falsely reporting on looming recession to hurt Trump reelection chances pic.twitter.com/XSN79pOblg
— TPM Livewire (@TPMLiveWire) August 20, 2019
During his appearance with the president of Romania Tuesday, Trump also confirmed that his administration is considering a payroll tax cut to keep the economy humming, though his spokesman, Hogan Gidley, had asserted that the proposal was not under discussion earlier in the day.
