As Signs of Downturn Loom, Poll Shows 57% of Voters Will Blame Trump If US Economy Goes Into Recession

A Harvard/Harris poll released Tuesday showed that most American voters will blame President Donald Trump if the U.S. economy goes into a recession, a finding that comes amid ominous warning signs of a looming financial downturn.

The survey (pdf) found that 62 percent of voters are concerned that the U.S. economy could enter a recession in the next six months. Fifty-seven percent of voters said they will blame the president over the Federal Reserve or others if a recession hits.

The poll comes weeks after the Treasury bond yield curve inverted for the first time since the Wall Street crash of 2007 and 2008. Observers noted last month that an inverted yield curve has preceded every major economic downturn over the past five decades.

Following that alarming signal, the Twitter hashtag #TrumpRecession went viral as economists and others said the president's trade war with China, tax cuts for the rich, and other White House policies are to blame for growing fears of an economic crash.

"The American people are waking up to the damage he has done to our economy by waging senseless trade wars and handing out trillions in tax cuts to the wealthy and corporations," tweeted former Labor Secretary Robert Reich.

In public, the Trump administration has repeatedly denied that an economic downturn is on the horizon. But, as Common Dreams reported last month, the White House has privately been considering a number of stimulus options, including more tax cuts for the rich.

Journalist Matt O'Brien mocked the White House's reported ideas to fend off a recession as handouts to the wealthy that would do little to boost the economy.

"Hilariously," tweeted O'Brien, "two of Trump's ideas for stimulating the economy are 1) cutting the corporate tax rate a little more (after cutting it a lot didn't do much), and 2) indexing capital gains to inflation. It's tax cuts for the rich all the way down."