How on Earth is Donald Trump Getting Credit for Joe Biden's Economy?

[Nevilledog]

https://newrepublic.com/article/181499/earth-donald-trump-getting-credit-joe-bidens-economy

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https://archive.li/pJ52c

Joe Biden’s trip to Wisconsin last week would, in normal political times, have been a grand-slam. He went to the very spot in Racine County where, in 2018, Donald Trump showed up literally holding a golden shovel, touting a new plant to be built by a Taiwanese electronics firm and promising 13,000 jobs. The next year, the firm—which had been granted nearly $30 million in tax breaks—backed out. Last week, Biden touted a new $3.3 billion Microsoft AI data center that is poised to create around 2,000 new permanent jobs—and 2,300 unionized construction jobs to build it.

The symbolism can’t get any better. Whether it moves the needle, it’s hard to say. One poll last week did show Biden up by six points in the state, but in the polling averages, Trump still holds a small lead.

But here’s another recent poll that’s far more alarming. Politico and Morning Consult asked respondents a series of questions about all the major economic legislation Biden has signed. Majorities know little or nothing at all about the infrastructure bill, the CHIPS act, the American Rescue Plan, and the Inflation Reduction Act. And get this: While 40 percent said Biden has done more than Trump on infrastructure, 37 percent said Trump had done more. In January, NBC found that Trump has a 22 point advantage over Biden on the question of whom voters trust more with the economy—up 15 points from the same poll in 2020.

How can this possibly be? Fine, we know that most people pay scant attention to politics. But even scant attention should produce some knowledge. I pay scant attention to pop culture events aimed at people younger than I am, but even I know that Drake and Kendrick Lamar are fighting, and that Kendrick appears to have public opinion on his side. Stuff seeps through.

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