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“He shows his contempt for science, his disdain for our heroes — in health care, first responders, sanitation, transportation, food workers, teachers, teachers, teachers and others — and he refuses to put money in workers’ pockets, unless his name is printed on the check,” Pelosi said.
On a phone call with other Democrats, the California lawmaker suggested the steroid regimen the president is taking to combat coronavirus could explain his behavior.
Unnerved Markets
One of the president’s favorite barometers for political success — stock markets — underscored the risk of his strategy. The benchmark S&P 500 slumped 1.4 per cent after Trump tweeted his comments late in the trading session, erasing a gain of as much as 0.7 per cent. The Dow Jones Industrial Average and Nasdaq Composite indexes also turned negative.
And the break comes as the president is showing new vulnerability on economic issues. In a CNN poll of likely voters released earlier Tuesday, Biden led Trump 50 per cent to 48 per cent on who would better handle the economy, marking a significant erosion for the president on what had been his signature issue.
In May, the CNN poll found that 54 per cent of registered voters gave Trump the upper hand on the issue, versus just 42 per cent for Biden.
Some of the president’s conservative allies — including Heritage Foundation researcher Stephen Moore, who has consulted with Trump on the talks — applauded the news.
