The Economy’s Performance Under Trump Is Not The Same Thing As His Policy Agenda

A Washington Post article on Republican politicians’ apparent willingness to accept Donald Trump’s racist comments told readers:

“Trump and his allies frequently counter by offering economic data that they say is favorable to minorities, seeking to separate Trump’s harsh rhetoric from his policy agenda.”

This comment implies that Trump’s policy agenda has somehow been helpful to blacks and other minorities. It is true that the economy has continued to grow during the Trump administration. It has also generated jobs and had a falling unemployment rate, although at a somewhat less rapid pace than at the end of the Obama administration. And a tight labor market does disproportionately benefit blacks and other minorities.

But it doesn’t follow that these gains have anything to do with Trump’s policies. Unless he deliberately tried to derail the economy it would have continued to create jobs in the last year and a half. Furthermore, almost all his economic policies, starting with his tax cuts, have disproportionately benefited the rich, who are overwhelmingly white. In his policy agenda, Trump has pushed proposals that will make it harder for minorities to get into college, to buy homes, and to get non-predatory loans.

For this reason, it is highly inaccurate for the Post to imply that minorities have benefited from the Trump policy agenda. They have benefited from a strong economy in spite of Trump’s policy agenda.