Democrat lawmakers on Capitol Hill scrambled this week to explain why the U.S. stock market continues to surge under President Donald Trump, despite their repeated warnings that his tariffs would wreck the economy.
Pressed by Fox News reporters on why markets remain strong if Trump’s trade policies are supposedly damaging the country, several Democrats downplayed the significance of the stock market altogether, insisting it doesn’t reflect real economic conditions.
Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto (D-NV) immediately rejected the premise, claiming:
“The stock market is not the economy.”
She argued that Americans “are feeling a price crunch when they go to the grocery store, prices are high.”
“The tariffs are a cause of that,” she claimed.
“The tariffs or taxes on Americans.
“And that’s why those prices are higher.
“And that is why I fought against it.”
Progressive Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-WA) took a similar approach, asserting that the market’s success reflects only the wealthy doing well.
“Because the billionaires are continuing to do well,” Jayapal said.
She pointed to what she called “massive tax breaks, $7 billion in tax breaks in the big, bad betrayal bill,” adding that large corporations are “continuing to get huge tax breaks.”
Sen. Angela Alsobrooks (D-MD) dismissed Wall Street’s gains as irrelevant to everyday reality:
“No matter what the stock market is saying, [Americans] are seeing the cost of groceries have not gone down.
“They are seeing that health care costs have become really exorbitant.
“They can’t afford it. They can’t afford the cost of goods.”
Sen. Chris Murphy (D-CT) echoed that line, doubling down on the Democrat stance that tariffs are hurting Americans.
“Everybody in America knows that the price of goods subject to the tariffs are higher,” he said.
“The stock market matters to a lot of folks, but prices matter the most to people.
“And right now, people are hurting because of Trump’s economic policies, including the tariffs.
“This is not what Democrats are saying.
“It’s just a fact that tariffs are costing consumers thousands of dollars.”
Trump Administration Pushes Back: Biden Is to Blame
The Trump administration has repeatedly argued that persistent inflation and high grocery prices stem from the economic damage caused by Joe Biden’s presidency, not Trump’s tariff strategy.
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt wrote Friday on X, urging Americans to “TRUST IN TRUMP.”
Leavitt declared that the president’s “pro-growth policies are a proven formula to Make America Affordable Again.
“They worked in his first term, and they are slowly but surely working now.”
Leavitt added that Trump’s team is working to reverse “the affordability issues created by Joe Biden, who unleashed the worst inflation crisis in modern American history — something the liberal media barely blamed the Democrats for over the past 4 years.”
She also highlighted falling prices in multiple categories, writing:
“The price of eggs, butter, ice cream, fresh fruit, cereal, fish, seafood, rice, pasta, and ham are all falling… the best is yet to come.”
Republicans: Long-Term Trade Reform Takes Time
Sen. John Hoeven (R-ND) told Fox that Democrats “miss the point” of Trump’s trade agenda.
“The point that [Democrats] are missing is that [Trump] is trying to get us better terms from all the countries that we export to, trying to get a level playing field, trying to grow our exports,” he said.
Hoeven argued that Democrats are fixated on short-term discomfort rather than the long-term gains Trump achieved in his first term:
“You have to separate the short term from what’s going to happen over time… he is working to make sure we get better trade terms for all of our manufacturers, processors, farmers, and everyone else.
“But it doesn’t happen in one day, it doesn’t happen overnight.”
Some Democrats Quietly Agree With Trump
Not all Democrats oppose Trump’s tariffs.
Sen. John Fetterman (D-PA) stated:
“I agree with some of the tariffs, especially with, like, China.”
He added that he opposed tariffs on allies such as Canada, saying, “In some circumstances, like it’s steel, it is appropriate.
“I don’t necessarily agree on some of the other ones.”
Don’t Ask Me to Explain the Market
When asked why the market continues performing well despite Democrats’ dire predictions, Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) declined to offer any explanation, simply saying:
“One thing I’ve learned is not to try to predict or analyze the stock market.”
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