Washington CNN —
Vice President Kamala Harris made a false claim about the jobs record of her Republican opponent, former President Donald Trump, in an interview on MSNBC on Wednesday evening.
Interviewer Stephanie Ruhle asked Harris what she thought about polls that show most likely voters still think Trump is the better option on handling the economy.
Harris responded, “Well, here’s what I know in terms of the facts. Donald Trump left us with the worst economy since the Great Depression, when you look at, for example, the employment numbers.” After Ruhle interjected by saying it was the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic that made the employment numbers bad, Harris continued, “Even before the pandemic, he lost manufacturing jobs – by most people’s estimates, at least 200,000.”
Facts First: Harris’ claim is false. Trump presided over a gain of 414,000 US manufacturing jobs, not a loss of “at least 200,000,” before the Covid-19 pandemic hit. And the loss for his entire presidency, start to finish, was 178,000 manufacturing jobs, not 200,000 or more as Harris said.
National job totals rise and fall for many reasons other than who the president is. Even if you’re attributing all gains and losses to the president, though, it’s just not true that Trump lost “at least 200,000” manufacturing jobs before the pandemic.
From the beginning of his presidency in January 2017 through February 2020, just before the pandemic crash, the economy added 414,000...
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