One of the most crucial tasks of a news organization in the Trump era is explaining what's unusual and what's not unusual. The New York Times has a major fail on that front in today's paper, with a news article by Michael Tackett. It begins:
WASHINGTON — President Trump has broken with many of the norms set by his predecessors, but in few ways has this been clearer than his cheerleading about the roaring stock market.
He is the unapologetic First Bull.
He has crowed about the stock market at least once a week for the past two months. In two Twitter messages early Tuesday morning, the president cited a 5,000-point rise in the Dow Jones industrial average this year, and then said the market had more room to roar once the impact of tax legislation he is expected to sign this week becomes law.
Other presidents have occasionally talked about market booms, but often avoided saying anything that could move markets, particularly on individual company stocks. More commonly, they have talked about unemployment numbers, housing starts and other indicators that are less sensitive to market forces.
Mr. Trump has ignored those conventions, with relish.
Even at a speech on national security on Monday, he took a detour to talk again about records being set in the markets. The market performance is now an almost standard part of any address he makes.
Got that? The Times accuses President Trump of having "broken" the "norms set by his predecessors," in a "clear" way, by ignoring the "conventions."
The problem is, Presidents Clinton and Obama also made stock market gains during their administrations "almost standard" parts of their addresses. You could look it up.
Here is Bill Clinton on March 9, 1993: "Our deficit reduction package—and Senator after Senator said today, you know, that this is the most credible budget I've seen in 15 or 17 or however many years—it is producing the desired results: low interest rates, stock market back up and doing well."
Here is Clinton again on March 11, 1993: "we are reaping the benefits of the clear and disciplined and determined effort that the congressional leadership has now agreed to make with me to bring the deficit down. We have interest rates at very, very low rates. We have the stock market back up."
Here is Clinton again on April 17, 1993: "Some profits of our corporations are up, stock market at record-high levels."
Here is Clinton again on April 24, 1993: "I know there's been some good news lately. After about 100 days as President we've begun to change the direction of America. Our economic program has been adopted in its broad outlines by Congress. That's brought an end to trickle-down economics. The stock market is at an all-time high, and interest rates are very, very low, mortgages at a 20-year low."
Here is Clinton again on April 27, 1993: "this town has finally gotten serious about cutting the deficit. That's one of the reasons we saw a big upturn in the stock market at the same time interest rates were hitting record lows. As you know better than anyone, these things can bring enormous long-term benefits to the economy."
Here is Clnton on June 2, 1993: "I'd just like to mention two things that I think support the economic position that I have taken and the work we're doing in the Senate. First of all, there were news stories today and yesterday pointing out that long-term interest rates are down again, the stock market is strong again in anticipation of the passage of a real deficit reduction package after the vote in the House. And that means we're taking the right course."
Here is Clinton on June 3, 1993: "In November, shortly after the election, our administration announced a serious attempt to reduce the deficit based on spending cuts, targeted revenue increases. Long-term interest rates started to drop. They've dropped almost one full point since the election. Last week, after the House of Representatives adopted the economic program, they dropped again, and the stock market went up again because people who control these decisions began to believe again that we could take control of our destiny and really move America forward."
Here is Clinton on July 30, 1993: "I think what you will see over the long run is a very strong stock market."
Here is Clinton on August 14, 1993: "With this economic plan in place, private analysts believe more than 8 million jobs will be created over the next 4 years. Already the plan has brought interest rates to historic lows and the stock market to historic highs."
Here is Clinton on April 4, 1994: "fundamentally it's a solid stock market and a very solid economy. And I think that's what should guide people in their long-term investment decisions."
Those are just a few examples from the Clinton era. I could provide literally dozens more. President Obama did the same thing.
Here is Obama on December 3, 2009: "We implemented plans to stabilize the financial system and revive lending to families and businesses. We passed the Recovery Act, which stopped our freefall and help spur the growth that we've seen. Today, our economy is growing again for the first time in a year and at the fastest pace that we've seen in 2 years, and productivity is surging. Companies are reporting profits. The stock market is up."
Here is Obama on December 14, 2009: "Today, due to the timely loans from the American people, our financial system has stabilized, the stock market has sprung back to life, our economy is growing, and our banks are once again recording profits."
Here is Obama on April 1, 2010: "the financial system has stabilized. I love, you know, in the midst of the crisis--you guys may remember last March, when the stock market was bottoming out—'This is Obama's stock market.' [Laughter] Wall Street Journal said that, 'Oh, look at his policies.' And I notice it's not my market anymore. [Laughter] I don't know what happened. You notice that? [Laughter]"
Here is Obama on November 2, 2015: "We were warned we couldn't reform Wall Street or create new protections for consumers or ask the wealthiest Americans to pay a little bit more without stifling the markets and crushing jobs. And we did it, and the stock market more than doubled, and we've seen the longest streak of job creation in American history."
Here is Obama on November 9, 2015: "We were told we couldn't put new rules on Wall Street or more protections for consumers or ask the wealthiest of Americans to pay their fair share of taxes without crushing job growth. But we did it. And the stock market doubled."
Here is Obama on July 23, 2016: "our economy is stronger today than it was before the crisis. Since we dug out from the worst of it, our businesses have added almost 15 million new jobs. Corporate profits are up, lending to businesses is up, and the stock market has hit an alltime high."
Here is Obama on November 23, 2016: "we have a lot to be thankful for this Thanksgiving: 6 straight years of job creation, the longest streak ever; low unemployment. Wages are rising again. Inequality is narrowing. The housing market is healing. The stock market has nearly tripled."
Even in his farewell address to the nation, on January 10, 2017, Obama sought to take credit for the stock market boom that accelerated in after Trump was elected: "the good news is that today the economy is growing again. Wages, incomes, home values, and retirement accounts are all rising again. Poverty is falling again. The wealthy are paying a fairer share of taxes even as the stock market shatters records."
As for the Times reference to "individual company stocks," President Obama endorsed companies including the Gap, Costco, and Aetna.
In announcing Mike Tackett's "new role" as "a national political correspondent," The New York Times said that his previous job had included "editing ...Linda Qiu's fact checks." Enough said.