By Alexis Simendinger and Kristina Karisch
Americans still believe the economy, or at least their finances, are a wreck. Former President Trump while campaigning Wednesday called the economy “a disaster” and promised that if he’s elected, “we will rapidly defeat inflation.”
But experts at the Commerce Department reported Wednesday that the U.S. economy grew at a brisk clip in the third quarter — meaning no recession. Analysts Friday will pore over the official jobs report for October, which they suggest could yank the punchbowl away, at least temporarily.
Vice President Harris, who mentioned inflated prices during her Tuesday speech on the National Mall, saying “I get it,” continued to campaign through three swing states Wednesday to assure voters she feels their pain over groceries and wages and has ideas she thinks will help, if elected.
“Leading economists have reviewed my plan and indicated it will strengthen the economy and that Donald Trump’s plan will weaken the economy,” she told reporters. “My highest priority is to bring down costs,” she added to ABC News during a Wednesday interview on the sidelines of her rally.
President Biden, who will lead an official Friday event in Philadelphia and campaign Saturday in Scranton, Pa., is expected to explain again that while there’s more economic progress to achieve, things are much improved since inflation soared above 9 percent in 2022.
The Hill: Democratic operatives hope for a Harris victory. But there are woulda, coulda, shouldas.
The idea that the president will be back on the campaign trail and revisiting his home turf for Harris makes more than a few Democrats nervous following his Tuesday gaffe in which he appeared to say he thought Trump’s supporters were “garbage.” Biden was attempting to rebuke a comic’s putdown joke about Puerto Rico made Sunday during a Trump rally in Madison Square Garden.
The White House tried to contain the damage, and Harris told reporters that Biden “clarified” his comments. But she distanced herself from her boss. “I strongly disagree with any criticism of people based on who they vote for,” she told journalists.
The Hill’s Niall Stanage reported that the president’s “garbage” kerfuffle did not dominate the news cycle quite as much as Democrats — buoyed by some recent strong polls for Harris — had feared. But Trump rubbed it in by riding in a campaign-themed garbage truck in Wisconsin, dressed in a safety vest.
A bright political headline for the GOP arose Wednesday from the Senate, where Republicans believe they will win a majority, or at least 52 seats, when the dust settles after next week.
“At this point, we have to have 52,” said one GOP operative involved in Senate races, noting the party outspent Democrats in Ohio, a red state, by more than $20 million this cycle. A win there against incumbent Sen. Sherrod Brown (D) would likely nail down the 52nd seat. “If we can’t win a race with that level of outspending in a state Trump’s going to win between 8-10 [points], that’s a failure,” a source told The Hill’s Al Weaver. The New York Times analysis: A unified Republican Congress would give Trump broad power for his agenda.
The New York Times analysis: A unified Republican Congress would give Trump broad power for his agenda.
