I think there are probably limits to that though.. when you control all branches of government and are making big splashy displays of firing tens of thousands of people and erecting big trade barriers - there really isn’t anyone else to (convincingly) blame.
Exactly. You tried your best but powerful shadow powers worked against you so you need even more power to fight them. And you know it may sound bad but things have to get worse before they get better. The population has to bear with you for just a bit more and you assure them you won't abuse any powers given to you, and if you do, it's because you were forced to.
It's election day, you get re-elected, rinse and repeat until the next generation has no memory of it ever being different.
That's going to be difficult after such a public media campaign giving people the idea that they're trying to crash the economy. Even if this will also take a lot of industry-level incompetence to achieve.
The spin seems the be that the recession is intentional in order to devalue the dollar and make American labor competitive with manufacturing hubs, bringing back domestic manufacturing capabilities.
And people actually buy that? Hey we're gonna make things worse for you so you can get worse paying manufactuer jobs compared to 2023. BTW we're cancelling all the new manufacturing initiatives.
Almost no one wins from this. Rich people suffer the least as usual by having a diverse banking account, especially in multiple currencies. All working class is devalued so the only boon is jobless people who manage to find a job.
There are a lot of people who romanticize America's time as an industrial nation, where most Americans were factory workers, miners, laborers, etc. They're being promised a return to those times, couched of course in the lie that those jobs will pay well, and the false assumption that workers will receive good treatment.
Bad enough that some GOP senators wake up and actually impeach trump. Which may not be possible because being rich to begin with shields you from the effects of a recession. It may have to be a depression to force their hands.
They won't really be affected by it, and they feel they'll come out of shiny and silky because they will have grifted all that money and still be in control and the 99% will have learnt their place.