Trump blamed 2020 Democrats for the ongoing stock-market plunge - but the nosedive was already underway due to coronavirus

Associated Press

President Donald Trump with members of the president's coronavirus task force speaks during a news conference at the Brady press briefing room of the White House, Wednesday, Feb. 26, 2020, in Washington. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta)

• Trump tried blaming the 2020 Democrats for the stock market plunge this week, which threatens to become the worst weekly decline since the 2008 financial crisis.
• "I think the financial markets are very upset when they look at the Democratic candidates standing on that stage making fools out of themselves," Trump said.
• The claim is at odds with financial experts who cite escalating fears about the coronavirus's spread worldwide as the reason for the massive market drop.
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President Donald Trump tried blaming this week's stock market plunge on the Democratic presidential candidates at a Wednesday press conference updating the public on the federal government's response to the coronavirus.

"I think the financial markets are very upset when they look at the Democratic candidates standing on that stage making fools out of themselves, when they look at the statements made... I think that has a huge effect," Trump said.

He added, "you can add quite a bit of sell-off" to fears that a Democrat will emerge as the victor in the 2020 election.

The claim is at odds with financial experts who cite escalating fears about the coronavirus's spread worldwide as the reason for the massive market drop.

"It's just conceivable that it could throw the United States into a recession," former Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen warned on Wednesday.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average plunged over 2,000 points (about 9%) so far this week, and its losses continued for a sixth day in a row on Thursday. The Dow fell over 500 points at the day's opening bell. The S&P 500 and the Nasdaq also tumbled.

NBC News reported this week could be the worst for stocks since the 2008 financial crisis.

It wasn't the first time Trump tried blaming Democrats for huge stock losses. In 2018, he pointed to the November midterms when Democrats recaptured the House of Representatives as a factor in the December bear market.

But it was largely due to concerns over the US-China trade war's impact on the global economy.

The coronavirus has spread to at least 47 countries from its point of origin in China, and in recent days has seen a surge of new infections across Europe. The US has 60 confirmed cases so far, though the vast majority of them sprung overseas.

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