Democrats rushed on Friday to capitalize on the latest signs of an economic slowdown as President Donald Trump's own Labor Department showed paltry job growth — something they hope will help them win back working-class voters.
“Trump’s Economy is in the gutter,” read an email blast from the Democratic National Committee. “The rise in unemployment and decline in available jobs is a direct result of Trump’s reckless tariffs and chaotic economic policies,” Sen. Andy Kim (D-N.J.) blasted on X. “Trump can’t fire his way out of these stark facts: inflation is heating up, prices and unemployment are both rising, and job growth is weakening sharply, all thanks to Trump’s tariffs,” Rep. Don Beyer (D-Va.) said in a statement.
The reactions came in response to a lackluster jobs report on Friday, which showed the economy had added just 22,000 jobs in the month of August.
Democrats have found their footing on an economic message they think they can sell: The president broke his promise of a better economy — a promise he rode to victory in 2024, when he pummeled Democrats for overseeing a period of soaring inflation.
Now, Democrats relish the opportunity to hammer Trump and Republicans for failing to deliver. But they’re barely offering a blueprint about what they’d do differently if they returned to power.
“We learned that job growth under Republicans has slowed to a crawl, and that in June, the economy actually lost jobs, which is the first time this has happened since the last time Donald Trump was president,” Democratic National Committee Chair Ken Martin said during a press call. “He talked about being the best president for the economy, and this economy is suffering mightily.”
He added that Trump is “one of the biggest con men in American history" and said the party would work to fix a “rigged, corrupt system,” without laying out specifics.
The poor job figures have been piling up under Trump, and he fired Erika McEntarfer, the head of the Bureau of Labor Statistics who was a Biden appointee, in July. Last month he nominated EJ Antoni, a loyalist who served as chief economist at Heritage Foundation, to replace her.
Trump has also floated firing Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell over his reluctance to cut interest rates. It’s a tactic his critics see as trying to bully the independent government body, but his supporters are again championing in the wake of Friday’s report.
“Today’s a great day to fire Jerome Powell,” Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R-Ala.) quipped on X Friday.
Trump piled on: “Jerome ‘Too Late’ Powell should have lowered rates long ago,” he posted on Truth Social.
The jobs report also comes amid a wave of anemic economic polling for Republicans, who historically hold an advantage on the issue. Recent surveys show Trump is underwater on the economy by double digits, and a majority of voters see the economy heading in the wrong direction.
“Today’s abysmal jobs report is just the latest proof point of how Republicans are failing miserably and, in fact, making things worse with their Big, Ugly Law and sweeping tariffs,” Viet Shelton, spokesperson for House Democrats’ campaign arm, said in a statement. “The DCCC will hold Republicans accountable for trashing the economy, and it’ll be a defining issue when Democrats retake the majority in 2026.”
Though voters are clearly frustrated with the economy, they are not so far shifting toward Democrats. Polling on which party voters trust more on the economy has been mixed for months. A Wall Street Journal survey from mid-July gave Republicans the edge, while an Navigator Research showed in August the parties were effectively tied on the economy, inflation and cost of living.
Democratic strategist Kristian Ramos called this a “break the glass moment” for Republicans, and suggested Black and brown voters who drifted away from the Democrats last cycle are seeing Trump has no intention of making their lives better.
“Unemployment is at a four-year high. For young people, it is at near-Covid levels, with Black and Latino unemployment also rising," he added.
Holly Otterbein contributed to this report.
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