Trump blasts Biden as a 'disaster for the economy' amid bank failures

Former President Donald Trump on Friday excoriated President Joe Biden's handling of the economy, contending that his policies had driven inflation and prompted interest rate hikes that in turn caused bank failures and nationwide economic turmoil.

"Joe Biden has been a disaster for the economy," Trump declared in a video posted to Truth Social. "Between his massive tax hikes, his anti-energy crusade, and his trillions of dollars in wasteful spending, Biden caused the highest inflation in almost half a century."

"As a result, interest rates soared to crushing levels and now we are seeing bank failures that nobody believed even possible just two years ago," he continued.

Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank failed last Friday and Sunday, respectively. The administration has promised that taxpayers will not pay the cost of federal intervention, which will entail the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation fully remunerating depositors beyond the normal limit of $250,000. 

Critics of the plan have called it a bailout and contended that the special assessments the FDIC will charge banks to fund such a backstop will inevitably be passed on to average consumers.

"There should be no bailouts, but we need to get this economy straightened out as fast as possible. We are headed down a very dangerous path," he warned, before vowing to restore his own economic policies, that he asserted made the U.S. the world's superlative economic powerhouse.

"When I'm back in the White House, I will immediately unleash energy production, slash regulations like I did just three years ago, and repeal Biden's tax hikes to get inflation down as fast as possible, and it will go quickly, so that interest rates can get back under control," he vowed.

"I built the greatest economy in the history of the world in fact I did it twice when you think about it," Trump concluded. "And now, we will have to do it again. Thank you very much."

Ben Whedon is an editor and reporter for Just the News. Follow him on Twitter.