Economist: Dems Silent on Economy Because 'They Have Nothing to Say'

As a new monthly jobs report confirmed continuing job growth and the 17th straight month with unemployment below 4 percent, an economist explained why Democrats are not talking about the economy when they vociferously attack President Donald Trump.

“Democrats are not talking about the economy, because they have nothing to say,” Douglas Holtz-Eakin, president of the American Action Forum and former chief economist of the president’s Council of Economic Advisers (CEA), told CNBC on Friday morning. He said the economy will be a “tailwind — it’s going to benefit the president.”

The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) jobs report released Friday morning showed that the U.S. economy added 164,000 jobs in July, with the unemployment rate holding steady at 3.7 percent. New jobs arose in professional and technical services, health care, social assistance, and finance.

CNN reported that the jobs increase is “a healthy number, considering the economy has been expanding for more than a decade.” July was the 17th month that unemployment has remained below 4 percent.

The positive economic news underscores the difference between Democrat rhetoric attacking Trump for alleged racism despite economic gains for the black community in particular. Black unemployment has reached record lows under Trump, and the president has met with black pastors to strategize on alleviating inner-city poverty four times in the past five months. The first black billionaire, Robert Johnson, gave Trump an “A+” on the economy and attacked Democrats for becoming too radical.

Amidst all this, Democrats are going crazy over Trump’s aggressive tweets responding to attacks from Democrats who happen to be black or members of a racial minority. Some have even called him a “white nationalist.”

Rather than addressing the fact that the economy is booming under Trump and helping black Americans in particular, Democrats are chasing a shiny object. This is a recipe for a repeat of 2016.

Follow Tyler O’Neil, the author of this article, on Twitter at @Tyler2ONeil.