White House economic adviser Larry Kudlow said on Sunday that Americans should not blame President Trump for disrupting world trade by imposing steep tariffs on U.S. trading partners because the president “inherited” a broken system.
“This is a hard thing to do,” Kudlow said on CNN’s “State of the Union.” “People say, ‘well, President Trump’s tariffs are damaging this that and the other thing.’ I say don’t blame President Trump.”
President Trump’s chief economic adviser Larry Kudlow on the criticism surrounding tariffs: “Don’t blame President Trump. He inherited a completely broken world trading system” #CNNSOTU https://t.co/d7GvqgKqFK
— CNN Politics (@CNNPolitics) July 29, 2018
“He inherited a completely broken world trading system … He’s trying to fix it,” Kudlow added.
The economic aide’s comments came two days after the Commerce Department reported that the nation’s gross domestic product, the broadest gauge of U.S. economic health, grew at a rate of 4.1 percent in the second quarter of 2018.- READ MORE
[divider][/divider]NBC host Chuck Todd mocked President Trump on Friday for taking credit for a strong second quarter economic report.
“You could tell there was sort of an urgency in the president’s voice that bordered on — of almost pulling a muscle trying to pat yourself on the back,” Todd told NBC’s Savannah Guthrie.
The Commerce Department announced Friday that the U.S. economy expanded at a 4.1 percent rate for the second quarter, the highest growth recorded since 2014. The report prompted the president to declare from the South Lawn that the U.S. is “going to go a lot higher than these numbers — and these are great numbers.”
Todd, who moderates the network’s “Meet the Press,” said special counsel Robert Mueller‘s Russia investigation is creating “an urgency” for the president to attempt to shift focus onto positive news.
“A good economic story to tell, the president wants to highlight it amidst, obviously, the Russia investigation and facing the midterm elections as well.” Todd said. – READ MORE
[divider][/divider]A top former White House official on Friday accused President Trump of wrongfully taking credit for the announcement of a strong second quarter economic report.
Richard Stengel, who served as undersecretary of State during the Obama administration, said on Twitter that Friday’s economic report should be attributed to former President Barack Obama.
“Yup, our economy is the envy of the world because Barack Obama steered us out of the Great Recession and set up structures and policies that reduced unemployment and raised GDP,” Stengel wrote.
“You’re just a lagging indicator,” Stengel added, referring to Trump.
Yup, our economy is the envy of the world because Barack Obama steered us out of the Great Recession and set up structures and policies that reduced unemployment and raised GDP. You’re just a lagging indicator. https://t.co/rzOtZuxRUQ
— Richard Stengel (@stengel) July 27, 2018
Stengel’s remarks came hours after Trump took a victory lap at the White House, touting his policies as drivers of the best economic growth in nearly four years. – READ MORE
[give_form id=”79809″] [contentcards url=”http://thehill.com/homenews/sunday-talk-shows/399391-white-house-economic-adviser-trump-inherited-a-completely-broken” target=”_blank”]