The US economy is the strongest in the world and Joe Biden was right to say so in his State of the Union address, a rightwing Republican economist allied to Donald Trump and a co-author of a plan to reshape the federal government said on Friday morning.
“Let me just say one thing positive about where we are right now,” Stephen Moore told Fox Business.
“One thing that Biden said last night was true. It is true that the United States today has the strongest economy. There is no question about it.
“If you look at what’s happening in Europe today, Germany, Britain, France, if you look at Japan and China, they’re not growing. And so it is true … the way I like to put it is we are the least rotten apple in the cart and that’s something that’s important to cheer.”
It was a surprising statement from Moore, who Trump tried to put on the Federal Reserve board in 2019, only for widely reported issues arising from his tax and legal affairs to prompt his withdrawal.
A liberal watchdog recently labeled Moore an “extremist”, in relation to his work on Project 2025, a sprawling plan to stock the US government with rightwingers and reshape public policy should Trump defeat Biden in November.
A member of hard-right groups including the Heritage Foundation, FreedomWorks and the Committee to Unleash Prosperity, Moore is also a regular analyst for Fox.
On Friday, the Guardian asked Moore if he credited Biden for the strong economy, as was further expressed by strong February jobs numbers released that morning.
Moore said: “No I don’t credit Biden for the economy.
“It IS true that we have the strongest economy, but as I said, we are the least rotten apple in the cart. Most of the rest of the world is in recession.”
Asked who he did credit for such a strong US economy, if not the president who has supervised it for three years, Moore did not immediately reply.
Economic conditions are vital in every presidential election.
Allan Lichtman, a professor at American University in Washington who has correctly predicted the winner of each presidential election since 1984, said recently Biden was leading Trump on five key measures, one being long-term economic trends.
Nonetheless, as his rematch with Donald Trump gets into gear, Biden must combat polling showing voters do not believe the economy is working for them.
