“There were many things that we knew would happen,” said Kamala Harris as the stock market plunged last week in response to Donald Trump’s tariffs. A smile crept across her face as she spontaneously added, “I’m not here to say, ‘I told you so. . .’” Harris erupted into her distinctive laugh as the crowd at the Leading Women Defined Summit whooped in delighted applause.
Democrats can barely contain their schadenfreude at Trump’s economic troubles. If their strategy is to sit back and give the Republicans just enough rope to hang themselves with, it appears the unspooling has begun.
The prospect of a Trump recession fulfills a liberal fantasy dating back to the first Trump administration. Back then, moderate liberal commentator Bill Maher spoke for many when he said:
I feel like the bottom has to fall out at some point, and by the way, I’m hoping for it because I think one way you get rid of Trump is a crashing economy. So please, bring on the recession. Sorry if that hurts people but it’s either root for a recession, or you lose your democracy.
This aspiration went unrealized during Trump’s first term, but now Democrats like Maher may finally get their wish. The plummeting stock market, steep drops in commodity prices like copper and oil, and what one market watcher called a “bloodbath” in global markets following Trump’s tariff announcements have led economic analysts to “significantly upgrade” the chances of a recession.
But there’s no such thing as Trump’s economic misfortune alone. If a recession materializes, it will be warehouse workers, service employees, and the millions already living paycheck to paycheck who will bear the crushing weight of economic contraction. The market downturn has already
Auteur: Meagan Day
