President Donald Trump ripped into former President Barack Obama’s economic failures and touted his economic success during the 2020 State of the Union address on Tuesday evening.
“Since my election, we have created 7 million new jobs— 5 million more than government experts projected during the previous administration,” Trump told the packed House chamber at the U.S. Capitol building.
Trump did not stop criticizing his predecessor there. He called out the Obama administration’s “failed economic policies” as some of the things he has reversed since taking office, touting the country’s economic success under his administration.
“If we had not reversed the failed economic policies of the previous administration, the world would not now be witness to America’s great economic success,” he said.
Some of the economic policies he contrasted with the previous administration were that of how many people came off welfare and how many minority groups came out of unemployment.
“Under the last administration, more than 10 million people were added to the food stamp rolls. Under my Administration, 7 million Americans have come off of food stamps, and 10 million people have been lifted off of welfare,” Trump said.
His claim on food stamps is mostly true, as there was an increase of 10 million people added to food stamps under the Obama administration. However, only 5.8 million Americans have dropped off food stamps since Trump has served a full month in office. The 7 million figure represents how many were on food stamps since the election.
“The unemployment rates for African-Americans, Hispanic-Americans, and Asian-Americans have reached the lowest levels in history. African-American youth unemployment has reached an all-time low,” Trump said.
His claim on African-American unemployment is true, as it had never gone below 7 percent before Trump’s presidency. When Trump was sworn into office in January of 2016, it stood at 8.8 percent.
As Trump touted his economic successes, Democrats in the House chamber moaned and looked glum, resorting to partisan bickering instead of bipartisan agreement.
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