Donald Trump couldn’t believe his eyes.
Something went wrong in an area that no one thought was possible.
And Donald Trump found out some really bad news that could change his life forever.
Donald Trump was planning on making the historic economic boom the centerpiece of his re-election campaign.
The President’s poll numbers and 2020 prospects brightened as Americans compared his successful agenda of tax cuts and de-regulation to the socialist, job-killing, un-American policies of his Democrat rivals.
Now all of that is at risk.
When the coronavirus broke out in China, stock markets across the world largely ignored the disease.
Even though over 70,000 Chinese were infected and over 2,000 died, investors continued to fuel a bull market because the coronavirus was largely contained to China and it appeared that the world’s second largest economy could emerge on the other side by the spring.
But over the weekend, disturbing developments rocked markets as hundreds of new cases popped up in Italy, Iran and South Korea meaning the virus broke containment and was well on the way to forcing the World Health Organization to declare it a global pandemic.
Markets nosedived.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average plunged 1,031 for a 3.5% loss, the S&P 500 dropped 3.35 percent and the NASDAQ plummeted 24 percent to $3.71.
Investors worried about the supply chain in China as factories across the mainland closed and had yet to reopen to full production capacity.
Companies like Apple and Nike depend on cheap Chinese labor to manufacture iPhones and Air Jordans and significant slowdown in the Chinese economy will have a ripple effect across the globe.
The coronavirus in Italy also spooked the markets because the outbreak took place just outside of Milan as the city geared up for a massive fashion week.
Designers were forced to show their collections behind closed doors and livestream the fashion shows out of fear of the coronavirus spreading throughout Milan and shutting the city down.
Prior to the explosion of cases in Italy and Iran, the conventional wisdom was that economic growth would slow in the first quarter – Goldman Sachs projects 1.2% growth – and then roar back in the spring and summer as the economy hums back to life after the coronavirus outbreak dissipates.
Those predictions may no longer be viable.
If the coronavirus continues to spread and chokes off economic growth through the summer, that could throw the 2020 election into chaos.
In 1992 America experienced a very mild recession and the economy had begun to grow again by the fall.
That was too late for incumbent President George H.W. Bush as the recovery took place too close to the election for its effects to sink into the minds of voters.
Bill Clinton rode his “it’s the economy, stupid” message to victory with just 43 percent of the vote as populist billionaire Ross Perot siphoned off 19 percent of support.
Right now, prediction markets installed Donald Trump as a slight favorite to win re-election, especially if he runs against socialist Senator Bernie Sanders.
But Americans have never went to the polls with the backdrop of a global pandemic and virus-fueled economic slowdown weighing on their minds.
Great American Daily will keep you up to date on any new developments in the 2020 Presidential Election.
