President Joe Biden has spent his first few years in office reversing the Trump-era hallmark of touting (and stealing credit for) each new milestone in the stock market.
But market highs in recent months and the opportunity to lure Donald Trump in an election year have proven too tempting to resist.
The latest example is last week, when the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJI) closed above $40,000 for the first time in history.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average hit the milestone on Thursday and closed above it on Friday, sparking a wave of Biden-world commentary. It closed just under 40,000 on Monday.
The marker was noticed from campaign press releases to White House social media accounts to White House press conferences.
“The record high stock market performance under President Biden has been good for retirement and household wealth — that’s just a fact,” White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said Thursday.
She shared her thoughts in response to questions, arguing that rising stocks are evidence that Biden’s economic plan is working.
Stock market watchers and economists often stress that market movements in any given week or month have little to do with the occupant of the Oval Office. For example, the recent rise is largely due to lower inflation rates across the economy.
Biden also has a long way to go before he reaches Trump’s level as a stock market expert, as the former president seemed to comment on every milestone in the stock market throughout his four years in office.
Mr. Trump has also maintained a high-speed commentary track since leaving Washington, changing his views dramatically in response to market ups and downs. Mr. Trump has at times in recent years claimed credit for the market’s rise, while at other times he has blamed Mr. Biden for the crash.
But Mr. Biden in recent weeks has followed Mr. Trump’s pattern in comments that could be used against him if things take a nosedive between now and November, as markets sometimes do. is increasingly being imitated.
Biden’s evolution according to stock market experts
It’s a temptation for any president to tout soaring stock prices, but Biden identified it early on as one of countless ways he wanted to distance himself from Trump and run his presidency differently.
“I don’t look at the stock market as a way to judge the economy like my predecessors did,” he said in a speech in July 2021.
Biden made a not-so-subtle allusion to the stock market’s strong rally in recent months, but added: “That’s not how I judge whether there’s economic growth.”
By January of the following year, the market was even higher and Biden could no longer resist more direct comments.
“By the way, the stock market, which was the standard by which my predecessor measured everything, is up about 20% since my predecessor was there,” he said in a speech on jobs on January 7, 2022. “During my term, records continued to be broken.”
But the timing is inauspicious for Biden, as the market was set to have a bumpy year in January with the S&P 500 (GSPC) down about 20%, according to Yahoo Finance data.
Mr. Biden’s casual touts sometimes irritated him and his inner circle.
When asked in June 2022 about his January remarks, Jean-Pierre acknowledged, “I know my family is concerned about inflation and the stock market.”
Then, on September 13, 2020, Mr. Biden held a celebration at the White House for the recently enacted “Inflation Control Act,” but on that day, unexpected inflation indicators caused all three major stock indexes to drop for the first time since June 2020. I had a bad day and ran into problems.
Pressed again the next day, Jean-Pierre said stock prices were just “one measure of the economic situation.”
Meanwhile, President Trump spent much of 2022 comparing the recession to the Great Depression and accusing the U.S. economy of collapsing.
Of course, stocks recouped their losses and ended 2023 back at record levels.
These highs were reached just as an election-year rematch between Biden and Trump was beginning to take shape.
It was an irresistible combination, with Mr. Biden boasting about December’s market highs and Mr. Trump’s comments predicting a crash resurfacing.
And in recent weeks, when the Dow broke through the $40,000 barrier, the floodgates opened.
Last week saw a ton of releases. The messages were posted on a variety of platforms, from Elon Musk’s X to Mehta’s thread and Instagram. Biden also recorded the moment on TikTok.
The post celebrated the new high and also revived old video footage of President Trump predicting a stock market crash under the Biden administration.
Trump was just one of many similar examples in 2020, pointing at Biden on stage during a debate and saying, “If he wins,” “the stock market will crash.” .
It was the drumbeat of the Biden campaign, and it was notable for its sheer volume. One campaign account even posted a series of videos from conservative outlets like Fox and Newsmax telling investors the good news.
Mr. Trump himself may understandably resist attempts to make a point and take credit.
He veered off to the market during a recent speech at the National Rifle Association (NRA).
President Trump claimed that a Wall Streeter named “Scott” (apparently referring to former Soros Fund Management CIO Scott Bessent) said, “The only reason the stock market is doing well is because Trump… “Because we are leading in all opinion polls,” he said.
“He said it, I said it,” Trump told the audience. “I believe.”
Of course, it remains to be seen which way the market will go in the coming months. Perhaps the only thing certain is that a contest between the two candidates is likely.
Ben Werschkul is Yahoo Finance’s Washington correspondent.
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