News
‘Chilling’: Amid Recession Alarms and Market Nosedive Trump White House Blames Biden
It’s Monday, March 10, and Donald Trump has been president for 50 days. The stock market continues its steep decline, with the Dow losing nearly 2,500 points over the past month. Today, it closed down nearly 900 points—after losing over 1100—reportedly due in large part to the uncertainty surrounding Trump’s tariffs, their chaotic implementation, and concerns over the possible recession they may bring. Meanwhile, a government shutdown looms. If Congress fails to reach a budget deal by midnight Friday—and President Trump has barely addressed the issue in public—the federal government will shut down at 12:01 AM on Saturday. While Congressional Republicans will likely need some Democratic votes, and it’s unclear how many, if any, they can count on, some political commentators are warning that Speaker Johnson is “devising a trap for congressional Democrats.”
You would not know any of this if you just walked through President Trump’s Truth Social page, where he spent an hour on Monday afternoon posting links to right-wing and far-right websites praising the “Trump effect,” claiming Trump is “rebuilding domestic manufacturing” (something President Joe Biden actually did,) bragging about the historically low number of migrants ICE apprehended at the Southwest border (he said he would deport millions), claiming his tariffs will not cause inflation (despite economists’ warnings), quoting his border “czar” saying he will “bring hell” to sanctuary cities, boasting that European nations are boosting their militaries (because they see the U.S. as aligning with Russia and hence unreliable), and posting a screenshot claiming he has the highest approval rating since being inaugurated (despite reliable polls saying the opposite).
Headlines make clear, however: investors and consumers alike are worried about a Trump recession.
READ MORE: ‘Cowardice and Cruelty’: Rubio Slammed for ‘Huge Mistake’ Destroying American Influence
“Stock Rout Picks Up Steam With Recession Warnings Blaring” (Bloomberg)
“Dow falls 1,100 points in market rout after Trump says he won’t rule out a recession” (CNN)
“White House pushes back against recession talk as household worries grow” (Reuters)
“Stocks slump yet again as fears grow about tariffs — and a recession” (NPR)
Just days ago, the headline at Foreign Policy was, “Trump’s Economy Is Flashing Red”:
“Trade wars, rising prices, falling confidence, and sinking stock markets are not what Wall Street or Main Street voted for.”
The Guardian on Monday reported on the Trump economic crisis.
“Wall Street falls as tariff fears grip markets,” The Guardian’s headline reveals.
“Boom! The US stock market has opened sharply lower, as fears that a trade war could spark an American recession sweep Wall Street,” it explains. After detailing how markets opened lower and continued to fall in early trading, it notes, “This follows last week’s selloff, in which the S&P 500 fell by over 3%, its worst run since early September.”
And it warns about the impact on Americans.
“Stocks are sliding today after China today imposed reciprical tariffs on US imports, targeting agricultural products, in response to the 10% tariff imposed by the US on Chinese imports. Beijing’s tariffs will make American goods, such as soyabeans, pork, beef, chicken and cotton more expensive for Chinese consumers, and may lead importers to buy goods from elsewhere instead, hitting sales for US farmers.”
Most importantly, here’s how the UK-based paper explained the cause: “Hopes that Donald Trump’s more erratic actions could be reined in by the markets appear to be being eroded, after the US president failed to rule out a recession in his weekend interview with Fox. Instead, Trump spoke about how there would be ‘a period of transition,’ implying the White House was relaxed about economic damage, expecting it to be short-term.”
‘Chilling’ and ‘Kind of Mystifying’
Former U.S. Rep. Charlie Dent, a seven-term Republican of Pennsylvania, told MSNBC Monday afternoon that Trump’s actions are having a “chilling” effect on the economy, and said it is “kind of mystifying” that the President “is behaving so recklessly with respect to the stewardship of this economy.”
Accusing Trump of trying to “undermine” North American economic systems, Dent said Trump’s tariffs “will likely cause recessions in Canada and Mexico, and create higher prices here and disrupt manufacturing and agriculture, so that’s going to be very negative for us.”
“He’s also, at the same time, is bad mouthing Europe every day, a major trading partner with us,” Dent added, observing that amidst all of this, Trump is “talking about greater rapprochement with Russia, which has an economy smaller than some of our states.”
READ MORE: ‘You’re Not Supposed to Be Asking That’: Trump Refuses to Answer Questions About Musk
Dent described Trump as “rather destructive and reckless,” noting he “does not understand” the consequences his tariffs will have on American manufacturers and farmers.
Despite Trump’s cycle of tariff threats, implementations, walk-backs, and renewed tariffs—along with his mass firing of potentially hundreds of thousands of government employees in an effort to shrink the federal workforce—his National Economic Council Director, Kevin Hassett, is pinning all the blame for the bad economic news on President Joe Biden.
Former Chair of the Council of Economic Advisers under President Barack Obama, Jason Furman, apparently responding to President Trump’s remarks over the weekend, during which he said the U.S. could expect a period of “transition” as his economic policies take effect.
“If you are implementing a credible plan that entails short-term pain for long-term gain the stock market will go up not down,” Furman, a professor of economics, wrote Monday afternoon.
‘We’ve Got a Biden Economy’ White House Advisor Says
Hassett served as the chairman of the Council of Economic Advisers during the first Trump administration. He is known for his faulty prediction about the DOW reaching 36,000 in 2004 — it did not until 2024, under President Joe Biden. He is also known for his false prediction that by May 0f 2020 COVID deaths would drop to nearly zero. At least 1.2 million people in the U.S. to date have died from COVID.
On Monday Hassett blamed President Biden for Trump’s bad economic results, while calling massive disruptions, like Monday drop in the markets, as “some blips in the data.”
Fox News’ Jessica Tarlov, co-host of “The Five,” responded: “Strange that Biden never had these crappy numbers when it was actually his economy.”
Political commentator Brian Tyler Cohen mocked Hassett: “Oh, right, this is still the Biden economy, except for how the Biden economy had a record high market and now we’re in a market crash. Got it.”
Watch the video below or at this link.
Hassett: “We’ve got a Biden economy. Still, most of Biden’s policies are in place. If you look at the Atlanta Fed GDP now number, it’s showing negative first quarter, which is kind of a metric of the inheritance of President Biden.”
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar.com) March 10, 2025 at 11:01 AM
READ MORE: Marjorie Taylor Greene Supports Infecting Kids at Measles ‘Parties’ as Outbreaks Turn Deadly
Image via Reuters
Enjoy this piece?
… then let us make a small request. The New Civil Rights Movement depends on readers like you to meet our ongoing expenses and continue producing quality progressive journalism. Three Silicon Valley giants consume 70 percent of all online advertising dollars, so we need your help to continue doing what we do.
NCRM is independent. You won’t find mainstream media bias here. From unflinching coverage of religious extremism, to spotlighting efforts to roll back our rights, NCRM continues to speak truth to power. America needs independent voices like NCRM to be sure no one is forgotten.
Every reader contribution, whatever the amount, makes a tremendous difference. Help ensure NCRM remains independent long into the future. Support progressive journalism with a one-time contribution to NCRM, or click here to become a subscriber. Thank you. Click here to donate by check.
 |
Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy Jr. — an environmental lawyer, former leader of a children’s anti-vaccine organization, and a promoter of conspiracy theories — is being praised by White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller as a “foremost” global health expert and a “crown jewel” of the Trump administration.
Kennedy has no medical degree or formal training, nor does he hold any degrees in public health.
Secretary Kennedy’s challenges this week include his attempt to fire the newly confirmed Director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and announcing that most Americans will not be eligible to receive COVID vaccines without a doctor’s prescription and at least one underlying health condition. (Future CDC advisory panel regulations may alter that landscape.)
Kennedy was assailed by medical experts this week when he declared that, while walking through an airport, he could see the “mitochondrial” illness and inflammation of children, which he claimed he could detect “from their faces, from their body movements and from their lack of social connection.”
READ MORE: ‘Glass Jaws’: Democrats Cast Ernst Exit as Harbinger of Weakening GOP
Miller, who also holds no medical degree, told reporters on Friday (video below) that “the CDC’s credibility was shattered during the COVID era.”
“CDC used to be, of course, seen widely around the world as a premier health agency, and much of the world discovered in the last few years, that CDC was actually staffed by a lot of very partisan, and very political bureaucrats who weren’t at all concerned about public health and weren’t actually very knowledgeable about public health,” he baselessly alleged.
“And we are working hard, and more importantly, Secretary Kennedy — one of the world’s foremost voices, advocates, and experts on public health — is working hard to restore the credibility and the integrity of CDC as a scientific organization committed to the scientific method, and getting to the root causes of the public health epidemic in this country,” Miller continued.
READ MORE: Johnson Pins Gun Violence on ‘Mental Health’ After Trump Slashes $1B in School Counseling
Asked if there are any concerns about Secretary Kennedy’s leadership, and despite the resignations this week of top CDC scientists in response to the President’s firing of the CDC Director, Miller declared, “Secretary Kennedy has been a crown jewel of this administration who’s working tirelessly to improve public health for all Americans.”
Critics blasted Miller.
“Calling RFK Jr. ‘one of the world’s foremost experts on public health’ with a straight face is crazy,” wrote The Lincoln Project.
“I’m a an MD, PhD, physician toxicologist and drug developer. This is the biggest pile of horse-s– I have seen in months of horses–,” declared Peter H Proctor MD, PhD.
Watch the video below or at this link.
.@StephenM: “Secretary Kennedy, one of the world’s foremost voices, advocates and experts on public health, is working hard to restore the credibility and the integrity of CDC as a scientific organization…Secretary Kennedy has been a crown jewel of this administration.” pic.twitter.com/Xjic91b8a5
— CSPAN (@cspan) August 29, 2025
READ MORE: ‘Brutal’: Trump Approval Tanks as Support Plummets Across Key Issues, Poll Shows
Image via Reuters
U.S. Senator Joni Ernst (R-IA), once seen as a possible Republican Secretary of Defense, or vice-presidential or presidential candidate in a more traditionally conservative environment, is expected to announce that she will not seek re-election next year. The news has sent shockwaves through the political system, with some Democrats — especially her challengers — rejoicing, and some critics and political operatives suggesting the move shows the GOP brand is weakening, especially given the number of other prominent Republicans who have already announced their retirement.
“Republican Sen. Joni Ernst of Iowa has told confidantes she plans to reveal next week that she won’t seek reelection in 2026, multiple sources familiar with the matter told CBS News,” the media outlet’s Jennifer Jacobs first reported. “Ernst’s announcement is scheduled for Thursday, the sources said. Ernst, 55, has served in the U.S. Senate since 2015.”
Some on the left already saw a weakening Republican brand, and now see Senator Ernst’s exit as further evidence of that volatility.
Ernst joins a slew of prominent Republican Senators bowing out of their re-election races, including Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, Thom Tillis of North Carolina, and Tommy Tuberville of Alabama. Marsha Blackburn of Tennessee, who just won re-election in November, is mounting a run for governor.
READ MORE: Johnson Pins Gun Violence on ‘Mental Health’ After Trump Slashes $1B in School Counseling
Former Biden White House official Neera Tanden, the president and CEO of the Center for American Progress, remarked, “GOP senators are cratering in their support. Glass jaws all the way down.”
Author and political commentator Sophia A. Nelson, a Republican turned independent, on Friday predicted embattled U.S. Senators Bill Cassidy of Louisiana and Susan Collins of Maine will be the next to announce their retirements.
“Democrats need to get it together,” Nelson added. “They have a real shot at the US Senate and retaking it in 2026. As well as the House of Representatives.”
In a somewhat tongue-in-cheek note, podcaster Chuck Todd responded to the news, writing: “On Earth 2, where the establishment of the GOP in 2016 successfully stopped Trump’s hostile takeover of the party, Ernst is either serving as VP, on a GOP ticket in 2020 or 2024 or had run for top spot herself.”
Back in May, Ernst was highly criticized for remarks she made at a town hall, telling voters (video below) upset over President Donald Trump’s trillion-dollar gutting of Medicaid and Medicare, “Well, we are all going to die.”
Some pointed to that gaffe as the impetus for her expected retirement.
READ MORE: ‘Brutal’: Trump Approval Tanks as Support Plummets Across Key Issues, Poll Shows
Responding to the news of Ernst’s exit, journalist Aaron Rupar snarked, “You’re saying that telling your constituents they don’t need healthcare because they’re gonna die anyway isn’t winning politics?”
Iowa Democratic state Senator Zach Wahls, who is running for Ernst’s seat, responded to the news: “Joni Ernst saw the writing on the wall. Iowans are fed up with rising costs and unchecked corruption. And next year, we’re going to flip this seat.”
Newsweek on Wednesday reported that Ernst was narrowly trailing Wahls in an in internal Wahls campaign poll, and only narrowly beating other opponents.
Iowa Democratic state Rep. Josh Turek, also running for Ernst’s seat, weighed in, commenting, “Whether it’s Joni Ernst or someone else, they’ll have to answer for supporting cutting Iowans’ healthcare in favor of a tax break for billionaires. When I’m in the Senate, I’ll never forget about Iowa.”
Meanwhile, Bloomberg News, in its coverage of Ernst’s retirement, pointed to reasons for Democratic optimism.
“One thing the national GOP cannot afford to ignore: Recent generic congressional ballots are giving a consistent edge to Democrats. A CNBC poll showed a 5-point lead for Democrats in August that had only widened since spring, something CNN pollster Harry Enten called a ‘big uh-oh’ for Republicans. In the last three elections with a new president — 2022, 2018 and 2010 — the party out of power gained enough seats in the midterms to control the House.”
The news outlet also reported that “outside of his GOP base, Trump’s legislative agenda is proving widely unpopular on his key issues: tariffs, inflation, the economy and deportation.”
U.S. Sen. Joni Ernst (R-IA) responds to constituents saying Medicaid cuts will kill people:
“Well, we are all going to die.” pic.twitter.com/qAOXfbtEXe
— Heartland Signal (@HeartlandSignal) May 30, 2025
See the video above or at this link.
READ MORE: ‘Act of Revenge’: Trump Axes Kamala Harris’s Secret Service Protection
Image via Reuters
Speaker of the House Mike Johnson is criticizing prominent voices on the left who denounced Republicans for urging prayer but taking no action on gun violence in the wake of the Minneapolis Catholic school mass shooting that left two young children dead and 17 wounded.
The Louisiana lawmaker pinned the blame for gun violence on “mental health” and “the human heart,” while insisting that guns are not the problem.
The House has voted to cut mental health services, including Medicaid, which is the largest payer of behavioral health services. Additionally, President Donald Trump has slashed $1 billion in school mental health programs that Congress approved in response to the 2022 Uvalde, Texas mass school shooting.
READ MORE: ‘Act of Revenge’: Trump Axes Kamala Harris’s Secret Service Protection
“It’s incredible to me that Jen Psaki and Gavin Newsom and others would attack religion, diminish the faith of millions of Americans at a time of such great tragedy,” Speaker Johnson alleged (video below). “There are a lot of commonsense solutions, things that can be done to protect children at schools and in churches that do not involve taking away the constitutional rights of law-abiding American citizens.”
Wednesday morning, Psaki, the former White House press secretary turned MSNBC anchor, lamented, “Prayer is not freaking enough. Prayers [do] not end school shootings. prayers do not make parents feel safe sending their kids to school. Prayer does not bring these kids back. Enough with the thoughts and prayers.”
Speaker Johnson continued, insisting that now is not the time to “politicize these issues.”
“And at the end of the day,” he continued, “the problem is not guns, okay, Jen Psaki? The problem is the human heart. It’s mental health.”
READ MORE: ‘Brutal’: Trump Approval Tanks as Support Plummets Across Key Issues, Poll Shows
In late April, the Trump Department of Education announced that it would stop funding “roughly $1 billion in grants that were meant to boost the ranks and training of mental health professionals who work in schools, saying the grant awards made under the Biden administration now conflict with Trump administration priorities,” Education Week reported. “The funds were authorized by Congress in the 2022 Bipartisan Safer Communities Act, which passed after 19 students and two teachers lost their lives in a school shooting in Uvalde, Texas.
The Trump Education Department alleged the $1 billion in funds might “undermine the well-being of the students these programs are intended to help.”
Critics blasted Johnson’s remarks.
“The GOP refuses to expand Medicaid for psychiatric care, cuts funding for ‘mental health,’ LGBTQ+ hotlines, denies the value of community services, yet feigns interest in ‘underlying causes’ of gun violence,” charged award-winning TV writer and playwright Hal Corley.
Watch the video below or at this link.
Speaker Mike Johnson on the Minnesota shooting: “At the end of the day the problem is not guns. Ok, Jen Psaki? The problem is the human heart. It’s mental health.” pic.twitter.com/hrLR9ev3O9
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) August 29, 2025
READ MORE: ‘Hard Questions’: VP Echoes False Claim About Antidepressants and Mass Shootings
Image via Reuters
‘Crazy’: RFK Jr. Is a Top Global Public Health ‘Expert’ Claims Miller, Sparking Mockery
‘Glass Jaws’: Democrats Cast Ernst Exit as Harbinger of Weakening GOP
Johnson Pins Gun Violence on ‘Mental Health’ After Trump Slashes $1B in School Counseling
‘Act of Revenge’: Trump Axes Kamala Harris’s Secret Service Protection
‘Hard Questions’: VP Echoes False Claim About Antidepressants and Mass Shootings
News3 days ago‘Brutal’: Trump Approval Tanks as Support Plummets Across Key Issues, Poll Shows
News4 days agoTrump Orders Death Penalty for All D.C. Homicides, Defying Long Ban
News3 days ago‘It’s Always a Young White Male’: Fox Host Urges Action After Deadly School Shooting
News3 days agoDuffy Slammed After Handing Trump Credit for Biden’s ‘Brand New Beautiful Trains’
News3 days agoTrump Expands D.C. Occupation, Will Seize Control of Union Station Operations
News2 days ago‘Hard Questions’: VP Echoes False Claim About Antidepressants and Mass Shootings
News2 days ago‘Total Implosion’: Experts Sound ‘Massive Alarm’ Amid ‘Wholesale Destruction’ of CDC
News2 days agoRFK Jr. Attacks CDC for Abortion Praise That Doesn’t Exist
