South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott says economy was terrific in June 2020

Sen. Tim Scott (R-SC), one of more than a dozen Republicans vying for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination, says the economy was better off as it was in June 2020.

Scott tweeted: “Three years ago, our economy was thriving. Today, we’re all worse off under the Biden administration. America needs to get back to what works: energy independence, responsible spending, and freedom from government control.” 

But three years ago, the country was in the midst of a pandemic-related economic crash. 

The unemployment rate was at a staggering 11.1%, and 17.8 million people were out of work, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. That was down only slightly from the peak unemployment rate of 14.4% in April 2020. 

Scott is one of a number of Republican hopefuls who have claimed that Biden has been bad for the economy. 

However, experts say the economy has been more robust during Biden’s presidency than it was three years ago when former President Donald Trump was in office.

According to a report this month from Barrons, the economy has grown faster under Biden than under his predecessor, and job growth has also been more robust, averaging an additional 470,000 jobs added per month as opposed to the 180,000 monthly average under Trump. 

Unemployment is currently at 3.7%, almost exactly what it was in February 2020, before the pandemic hit and job losses skyrocketed.

The Wall Street Journal reported that other markers of the economy are doing better than economists predicted, including gross domestic product, consumer spending, and home sales. 

Biden, for his part, is touting his economic successes and claiming the name Republicans and others on the right had applied to his policies, “Bidenomics.”

“Bidenomics is working,” Biden said in remarks at the White House on June 28. “When I took office, the pandemic was raging and our economy was reeling, supply chains were broken, millions of people unemployed, hundreds of thousands of small businesses on the verge of closing after so many had already closed — literally, hundreds of thousands on the verge of closing. Today, the U.S. has had the highest economic growth rate, leading the world economies since the pandemic.”

Published with permission of The American Independent Foundation.