President Donald Trump boasted about a V-shaped recovery for the United States economy, even as the coronavirus pandemic is affecting the country. The President spoke about the overall strength of the economy right after Joe Biden, and Kamala Harris appeared together for the first time after Biden announced his choice for his running mate. During the White House press conference, the President shared charts with the reporters that showed the promising performance of the economy.

“We had to turn off the economy. Now we are turning it back on, and that’s going to be very strong,” the President said. “The stock market rebound signals a v-shape recovery. Stronger than our competitors anywhere in the world,” he added. He also touted the fact that over 9 million jobs have been created in the past three months. While that has not made up for all the lost jobs prior to the pandemic, it does represent a major boost to the economy and a promising trend. Another chart showed that manufacturing is experiencing a comeback after the slump that was caused by the pandemic.

The President is highlighting the performance of the economy to counter the effects of its dismal performance. For the second quarter of 2020, the United States GDP contracted by as much as 32.9% or a third of its value. That is the single biggest drop since records have been kept after World War Two. In the first quarter, it contracted by 9.5%, which is also an alarming drop.

The poor economic performance is being cited by critics of the President as a sign that he is unfit to lead the country and that his response to the pandemic was poor. But there was little that could be done when it comes to the response since the local governments have most of the power to deal with it. The blame cannot be placed solely on the shoulders of the President.

With an economic recovery entirely possible, the enemies of the President would have one thing less to use against him. Therefore, it is not surprising that some local officials have been trying their best to hold back the businesses in their area and prevent them from opening. They want the economic situation to worsen so that they can use it as fuel against the President and boost the Democratic party’s chances in the upcoming elections.