Biden Campaign Says Trump’s Economic Plan Is ‘No Plan’

Joe Biden’s campaign says President Donald Trump’s effort to campaign on an improving economy is a “desperate scheme” that ignores how his handling of the coronavirus pandemic contributed to the economic downturn, according to a memo sent Friday to surrogates.

The Democratic presidential nominee’s team argues that Trump “bungled” the crisis and that there are “two major flaws” in his efforts to spin current economic conditions: Trump’s “failed leadership” and his lack of a plan beyond urging businesses to reopen.

All this amounts to “significant headwinds” for Trump heading into November’s election, deputy campaign manager Kate Bedingfield and senior adviser Anita Dunn write in a memo.

Democrats, including Biden, argue that while the unemployment rate fell from 14.7% in April to 13.3% in May, the economy is in a recession exacerbated by what they see as Trump’s slow and insufficient response to the coronavirus. The jobless rate is still higher than it’s been at any time since the Great Depression and the unemployment rates for blacks and Latinos is higher than for that of whites.

Biden is preparing to “release a bold plan to create millions of jobs, ensure jobs pay a good wage and benefits, and address historic inequities,” according to the memo, while “Trump has no plan to create new jobs or good-paying jobs, other than to propose more corporate tax cuts.”

The memo also says that Trump lacks a plan to reopen the economy “other than to hang an ‘open’ sign and hope for the best” while Biden on Thursday unveiled a plan to do so while keeping workers safe and restoring consumer confidence.

Biden plans an economic address, likely next week.

The Trump campaign did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The Biden campaign says history is not on Trump’s side since no party has held the White House since World War II while the unemployment rate was more than 8%. Even when the economy had been improving after a downturn, the modern presidents who saw job losses on their watch — Jimmy Carter in 1980 and George H.W. Bush in 1992 — have lost their bids for a second term, the memo notes.