Presidents are often blindly praised (or claim credit for themselves) when good things happen during their terms. They’re also often blindly criticized by their opponents and the public when things go wrong. Presidents do have a big impact, of course, and it’s fair to credit or blame them for the things they actually do. However, it’s perverse to blame or credit them for things they had little or no influence over.
Trump is a severe case, but other presidents aren’t immune. The general public and even the pundit class also fall prey to this kind of thinking. The classic campaign question is “Are you better off than you were four years ago?” Voting based on the answer to that question is irrational because it doesn’t take into account what is and isn’t under the president’s control.
A recent example is Trump’s boast about egg prices during his State of the Union address. He claimed that they’re down 60%, which is false, and the fact that they’re down at all has nothing to do with him or his policies. It’s just because bird flu cases dropped dramatically and egg production recovered.
Another example is Pam Bondi’s bizarre deflection while testifying before Congress. Jerry Nadler asked her a question about Epstein:
Nadler:
How many of Epstein’s co-conspirators have you indicted? How many perpetrators are you even investigating?
Bondi blathers for a while, then says:
And none of them, none of them asked Merrick Garland over the last four years one word about Jeffrey Epstein. How ironic is that? You know why? Because Donald Trump — the Dow — the Dow right now is over — the Dow is over $50,000. [laughter erupts] I don’t know why you’re laughing. You’re a great stock trader as I hear, Raskin. The Dow is over 50,000 right now. The S&P at almost 7,000. And the NASDAQ smashing records. Americans 401ks and retirement savings are booming. That’s what we should be talking about.
It was a nonsequitur, but the point here is that she’s acting as if Trump is responsible for stock market gains, when in fact the market responds negatively when he imposes tariffs and positively when he TACOs (or gets defeated in court). He’s a brake on stocks, not a booster.