Sen. Kamala Harris was one among many Democratic candidates last week who leveled an attack against Donald Trump using the economy. Trump goes around bragging about "my great economy, my great economy," Harris said, but it's not working for Americans who don't own stocks or who work two or three jobs just to put food on the table.
Based on the fact that nearly every Democratic candidate echoed Harris' sentiments on the economy, it's clear that many Americans continue to have trouble making ends meet and are expressing that anxiety to candidates as they campaign across the country. In fact, a new AP-NORC poll shows why Democrats continue to focus on an economy that appears at first blush to demonstrate strong fundamentals.
Although nearly two-thirds of Americans say the economy is "good," fewer than half of them approve of Trump's handling of the economy, taxes, and trade policies.
So Democrats are onto something when they jab at Trump for repeatedly touting his "great economy." While the unemployment rate is at historic lows and the nation's economic expansion is setting records, a mere 15% of taxpayers believe they got a tax cut, and just 17% think Trump's trade policies will benefit them personally. Even the number of Republicans who say Trump tariffs will help the economy has plummeted from 70% last August to 50% this June, and among all Americans that number has dropped from 40% to just 26%.
The more convinced Trump is of his own greatness, the more his disconnect from voters’ realities will continue to work against him. Just because his billionaire buddies are tickled pink doesn't mean the rest of America is sharing in the revelry.