Conservative writer argues the country is waking up to Trump's delusions of economic success
President Donald Trump has not hesitated to brag about the state of the U.S. economy, insisting that he is responsible for the country’s low unemployment rate.
But conservative Max Boot, an opponent of the president, argued in his latest Washington Post column that voters don’t believe the U.S. economy is doing as well as Trump would have us believe — and that he has weak support on other issues as well.
“Trump breathlessly and endlessly touts the economy, claiming it’s ‘doing GREAT,’” Boot observes. “Yet in a recent Quinnipiac poll, more Americans said the economy is getting ‘worse’ — 37% — than say it’s getting ‘better’: 31%.”
Boot goes on to note that Trump “inherited a Republican-controlled Congress and in his first midterm election, lost control of the House. It’s not just that Trump is personally unpopular; so are his views. On issue after issue, the country rejects the populist snake oil that he is peddling.”
The conservative columnist goes on to cite some examples. Trump, Boot notes, “is indifferent to environmental protection or the need to address global warming.” Yet in a recent Pew poll, Boot adds, 56% of Americans believe the environment should be a high priority.
Boot describes Trump as a “fanatical nativist who has made opposition to nonwhite immigration a centerpiece of his administration.” But according to Pew, Boot notes, 62% of Americans believe that immigration strengthens the country —while only 28% see it as a burden.
He similarly argues that Trump is out of step with the public's views on isolationism and protectionist trade wars.
Boot ends his column with some advice for Democrats: reject protectionism and isolationism if they want to set themselves apart from Trump.
“Democratic presidential candidates — many of them as protectionist and hostile to global leadership as Trump is — should take note: the electorate wants more, not less, engagement in the world,” Boot writes. “The public’s rejection of Trumpism gives me some hope that we can recover from this disastrous presidency — especially if it ends on January 20, 2021."
