Stephen Moore calls record-breaking GDP growth a ‘game changer’ for Trump

Stephen Moore, an economist and adviser to President Trump, touted the nation’s record growth in gross domestic product (GDP) as a “game changer” for Trump just days away from Election Day. 

During an interview with John Catsimatidis on his radio show on WABC 770, Moore said he thought the economic growth would swing “almost all undecided voters” to Trump.

“In the 35 years I’ve been in this business, I’ve never seen an economic report as good as the one we saw on Thursday,” Moore said. “I happen to think it’s a game changer. I think that it’s going to sway almost all undecided voters into Trump’s camp.” 

His comments come after the Commerce Department reported that the nation’s GDP grew at an annualized rate of 33.1 percent in the third quarter, a swift recovery from the deep loss suffered by the U.S. after a second-quarter collapse of much greater magnitude driven by the coronavirus pandemic. 

The U.S. also added 3.8 million new jobs between July and September, and saw a sharp increase in consumer spending, particularly on personal goods and household products. The report is the last major economic indicator before Election Day, and could give Trump a boost as he trails behind Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden nationally and in swing states. 

Moore said that many undecided Americans wouldn’t want to take a gamble on a Biden administration, and predicted that if Trump is reelected, the economy would continue to boom. 

“When you’re riding on the back of Secretariat, you don’t change horses,” Moore said. “If Donald Trump is reelected president next Tuesday, I believe 2021 is going to be another blockbuster year for the economy.”

Economists had widely expected GDP to rebound at an unprecedented rate as the U.S. began to dig itself out of the coronavirus recession. However, they warned that the new numbers do not fully reflect the damage that still remains from the pandemic. 

To recover the total losses from the recession, the GDP would need to rise at a 45.7 percent annualized rate in the third quarter.

The president, however, touted this new growth on the campaign trail on Thursday. 

“Did you see the number today? 33.1 GDP. The biggest in the history of our country by almost triple,” Trump said during his campaign rally in Tampa, Fla. 

The president also disclosed that Republicans had wanted him to focus more on the economy than attacks on Hunter Biden, Joe Biden’s son. 

“I got a call from all the experts, right, guys that ran for president six, seven, eight times, never got past the first round, but they’re calling up, ‘sir, you shouldn’t be speaking about Hunter,’ ” Trump told the crowd. “They say, talk about your economic success. Talk about 33.1 percent, the greatest in history. Look, if I do, how many times can I say it?” 

John Catsimatidis is an investor in The Hill.