Trump Warns About the Consequences of Impeachment: 'The Markets Would Crash'
President Donald Trump issued a wake-up call Thursday aimed at warning congressional Democrats that their headlong drive to embrace impeachment will hurt Americans.
“If they actually did this the markets would crash. Do you think it was luck that got us to the best Stock Market and Economy in our history. It wasn’t!” Trump tweeted.
If they actually did this the markets would crash. Do you think it was luck that got us to the best Stock Market and Economy in our history. It wasn’t! https://t.co/V0WGVWEWTN
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) September 26, 2019
Trump also issued an all-caps tweet of outrage calling for party unity to block what he has characterized as a partisan political witch hunt.
“THE GREATEST SCAM IN THE HISTORY OF AMERICAN POLITICS!” he tweeted.
THE GREATEST SCAM IN THE HISTORY OF AMERICAN POLITICS!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) September 26, 2019
“THE DEMOCRATS ARE TRYING TO DESTROY THE REPUBLICAN PARTY AND ALL THAT IT STANDS FOR. STICK TOGETHER, PLAY THEIR GAME, AND FIGHT HARD REPUBLICANS. OUR COUNTRY IS AT STAKE!” Trump wrote in his since-deleted tweet.
Since Trump was elected, the Dow Jones Industrial Average — the broadest measure of Wall Street’s heath and a bellwether of the overall economy — has risen 46 percent, according to CNBC.
The Dow lost 142 points Tuesday, the same day that House Speaker Nancy Pelosi announced House Democrats were opening an impeachment inquiry.
“Up until this point, I thought the political stuff didn’t mean anything. Now that it becomes real, I can’t discount it,” Peter Boockvar, chief investment officer at Bleakley Advisory Group, told CNBC.
“Markets won’t like the uncertainty it brings. In previous instances (Nixon, Clinton) there has been rockiness for equities and the dollar,” Neil Wilson, chief market analyst for Markets.com, said, according to Business Insider.
Stocks sagged early Wednesday from the news.
“The political turmoil around Donald Trump’s official impeachment inquiry, combined with rising fears of no agreement with China in October trade talks, turned the risk sentiment off across the global markets,” Ipek Ozkardeskaya, senior market analyst at London Capital Group, said.
Stocks later rebounded Wednesday after Trump indicated a trade deal between the U.S. and China could come sooner than expected.
However, as CNBC reported, impeachment has not been a boon for the economy in the past.
In 1998, when the House was preparing impeachment proceedings against former President Bill Clinton, the Standard & Poor 500 fell as much as 20 percent before the markets ultimately rebounded.
Alluding to the Clinton impeachment effort, CNBC commentator Jim Cramer said that whatever takes place, investors should be betting against Trump ever being removed from office.
“I need you to recognize that the Senate will most likely acquit,” he said. “How much will that matter to the stock market? You know what, we’ve seen this movie before.”
The process of impeachment requires that the House adopt articles of impeachment accusing the president of breaking his oath and committing crimes. Because Democrats control the House, that step could happen.
If the House approves what amounts to an indictment, a president then faces a trial on those charges in the Senate.
Because the Senate has a Republican majority, few commentators expect Republicans will find Trump guilty of any charges leveled by House Democrats.
Truth and Accuracy
We are committed to truth and accuracy in all of our journalism. Read our editorial standards.
