Dem
51
GOP
49
Presidents are generally upbeat (e.g., "Morning in America"). For the most part, presidential candidates are too, although they are free to say things would be even better with themselves in charge. It is considered gauche to root against the country and hope that millions of people lose their jobs, houses, and more. But Donald Trump doesn't speak French and has no idea what "gauche" means. And even if he did, he still wouldn't understand it (the literal translation is just "left," as in making a left turn at an intersection). So in an interview with Lou Dobbs, Trump said he hopes the economy will crash this year. That way he wouldn't be a repeat of Herbert Hoover.
As usual with so much of what Trump says, particularly when it comes to history, this makes no sense. When Hoover was elected president in 1928, the economy was booming. Then on "Black Monday," Oct 28, 1929, the stock market dropped 12.8%. On "Black Tuesday," Oct. 29, 1929, it dropped another 11.7%. That led to the start of the Great Depression, under Hoover's watch. As a consequence of the depression, Hoover was crushed in the 1932 election, winning only six states: four in New England plus Pennsylvania and Delaware.
There is no way Trump could be Hoover because if the markets crashed this year, Joe Biden would be Hoover and probably be crushed in Nov. 2024. This would indeed be good for Trump, but it would be Biden, not himself, as Hoover. And, in any event, so far, the economy seems to be doing well and Fed Chairman Jerome Powell seems to have managed a soft landing. What Trump didn't say, and could have, is that he was the one who made the genius pick of Powell as Fed chair. He could legitimately take credit for making a very good choice, rather than rooting for misery for millions of people.
As an aside, Trump's skill at making economic predictions is, uh, poor. In 2020, Trump predicted that if Biden was elected, the stock market would crash. Actually, it broke all records and closed the highest in its history during Biden's administration:
Not only that, inflation is down from 9.1% to 3.1% under Biden and 14 million new jobs have been created during his administration. It could yet go south, but at the moment the economy appears to be humming along. Many people don't know this and Fox News continues to tell everyone how awful it is, but if inflation and unemployment stay down until November and most people's 401(k) accounts are way up, voters may finally decide that the economy is doing well. (V)