Passing the Buck: Kamala Harris Blames Trump for Bad Jobs Report

Vice President Kamala Harris’s campaign on Friday blamed former President Donald Trump for the recent spike in the unemployment rate — under her and President Joe Biden’s administration.

“Donald Trump failed Americans as president, costing our economy millions of jobs, and bringing us to the brink of recession,” James Singer, a Harris for President spokesperson, said in a statement, continuing:

Now, he’s promising even more damage with a Project 2025 agenda that will decimate the middle class and increase taxes on working families, while ripping away health care, raising prescription drug costs, and cutting Social Security and Medicare — all while making his billionaire donors richer.

The unemployment rate jumped to 4.3 percent and employers added 114,000 workers to their payrolls in July, a significant miss from economists’ 180,000 expected jobs estimate.

As Breitbart News Economics Editor John Carney noted, the significant jump in unemployment may suggest that the economy might be heading towards a recession:

The 4.3 percent unemployment rate brings the three-month average 50 basis points above the lowest three-month average over the past 12 months, a threshold known as the “Sahm Rule” that historically has indicated the beginning of a recession.

Fed chairman Jerome Powell on Wednesday said that while recessions have typically followed a triggering of the Sahm rule, a recession was not guaranteed.

“It’s not like an economic rule, where it’s telling you something must happen,” Powell said.

Republicans claimed that the dismal jobs report came as the result of the Biden-Harris administration’s policies.

“Stagnant job growth and rising unemployment – these are the consequences of the Biden-Harris Administration’s economic policies,” Rep. Kevin Hern (R-OK), the chairman of the Republican Study Committee (RSC), said in a statement. “The harsh reality is that the Biden-Harris economy is failing American workers every day. Their policies just aren’t working – we need a new direction for our economy.” 

Karoline Leavitt, the Trump campaign national press secretary, said in a statement:

Kamala Harris has proudly and repeatedly celebrated her role as Joe Biden’s co-pilot on ‘Bidenomics.’ She cast tie-breaking votes in the Senate for spending that put inflation on steroids, and despite the evidence that America’s working families are hurting she tells us these failed plans are working.

She added, “The basic necessities of food, gas and housing are less affordable, unemployment is rising, and Kamala doesn’t seem to care.”