Steve, we could argue theory, but prior to the pandemic three statistics capture the Trump economy best...
1) the lowest unemployment rate since Eisenhower. Including the lowest unemployment rates for minorities and women on record.
2) the highest labor participation rate in a decade. Obama's lower unemployment numbers were partially driven by nearly 4% of the population dropping out of the labor force and no longer looking for jobs. Trump achieved his record low unemployment rate even after attracting more people into the labor force.
3) the highest inflation adjusted wage gains in a decade. In other words, low unemployment rates translated into wage gains as employers offered more money to attract and retain workers. In addition for the first time in more than a decade wage gains were concentrated among the lowest tier of wage earners and not the highest tier. This group and the group right above them comprise a large share of the blue collar working class.
4) As an aside, the share of wealth controlled by the top 1% declined under Trump. Contradicting your statement that the wealthiest Americans benefited and not the working class.
As I said, I understand why people don't like Trump, but it is hard to argue that his policies were not good for working Americans in the face of the statistics.
As for Covid, I did work in health care my whole career. Having been involved with running a company that delivered over 3 million flu vaccines annually, I believe Trump has done a good job at balancing the health issues of the pandemic with the economic ones.
But time will tell once the long term impacts of the pandemic on statistics unrelated to Covid "cases" is better understood. Statistics like undiagnosed cancer treatments due to shutdowns or failure to treat due to shutdowns... or reduced education due to closed schools. Any pretense that anyone believes they can judge the total impact of the pandemic at this point is pure political nonsense.
I have yet to hear a single "go forward" proposal by Biden on how to handle the pandemic that promises anything better. Maybe he is keeping it a secret.
