Poll: Obama gets more credit than Trump for economy, but opinions are shifting

More Americans give credit to former President Barack Obama for the current state of the U.S. economy than to President Trump — but the trend is moving in Trump’s direction, according to a new Quinnipiac University poll released Wednesday.

Fifty percent of respondents said that Obama is more responsible for the current economy, while 37 percent give Trump credit for the situation. Another 13 percent said they either didn’t know or declined to answer.

Polling trends, however, show that more and more people are giving credit to Trump for the economy as he gets closer to the one-year mark of his presidency.

{mosads}In March, less than two months after Trump’s inauguration, 67 percent of respondents in the Quinnipiac poll said Obama was responsible for current economic conditions, while only 19 percent said Trump was.

Several months later, in June, 51 percent gave Obama credit for the economy, and 34 percent pinned it on Trump, according to Quinnipiac.

Such trends make sense. Presidents typically get more credit or blame for the economy the longer they are in office. 

When Obama became president in 2009, the economy was in free-fall from a recession and financial crisis, but the new president escaped blame. That changed as Obama moved a nearly $1 trillion stimulus bill through Congress and as unemployment remained high over the first years of his term.

Since his November 2016 electoral victory, Trump has touted his impact on consumer and business confidence, as well as economic growth. He has frequently pointed to record highs in the Dow Jones industrial average and dwindling unemployments rates as proof that he has spurred economic enthusiasm.

To be sure, unemployment has been steadily declining for years, and job creation under Trump is largely on par with that of the last few years of Obama’s presidency. 

Economic growth also jumped in the second quarter of 2017, going up to 3.1 percent — its highest point in more than two years.