A top economic advisor to President Joe Biden is leaving the White House to join Vice President Kamala Harris’ presidential campaign, administration officials told The Associated Press.
Biden put out a Monday statement thanking senior economic adviser Gene Sperling for his time in the White House as the stock market took a dive and saw a worldwide sell-off. Amid concern of a potential economic crisis, Sperling is expected to join Harris’ policy team as a senior economic adviser, White House officials told The AP. (RELATED: Wall Street Finally On High Alert For Potential Financial Nightmare)
“When I took office, our economy was reeling, a pandemic was raging, and hundreds of thousands of small businesses across the country were at risk of shutting their doors. Having run Recovery Act implementation for President Obama, I knew I needed an American Rescue Plan Coordinator with the expertise and experience to hit the ground running,” Biden said in a statement. “I’m glad I picked Gene Sperling.”
White House American Rescue Plan Coordinator Gene Sperling speaks alongside White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki at a press briefing in the James Brady Press Briefing Room of the White House on August 02, 2021 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images)
As Sperling departs his post where he helped roll out Biden’s first pandemic aid package, the Dow Jones Industrial Average and Nasdaq plunged 1,000 points each, according to Fox Business. Tokyo’s Nikkei index closed 12.4% lower, its worst single-day retreat in almost 30 years since, according to The AP. Europe’s STOXX 600 index faced its biggest disruption since February, dropping 2.6% at 487.15 points.
“Under Gene’s leadership, the American Rescue Plan has delivered economic relief to cities and counties across the country, protected millions of union pensions, made the largest-ever federal investment in public safety, and kept thousands of small businesses afloat,” Biden wrote. “I also looked to Gene as a trusted advisor on the economy and gave him some of the toughest assignments, including serving as my liaison to the Big 3 automakers and UAW as autoworkers fought for – and secured – record contracts.”
A poor July jobs report foreshadowed market troubles, former Federal Reserve economist Claudia Sahm previously warned. Market fears, coupled with the jobs report, have raised concern of a potential American recession.
‘It Triggered’: Economist Who Created Recession Indicator Sounds Alarm After Dismal Jobs Report pic.twitter.com/xbIXfiUH2o
— Daily Caller (@DailyCaller) August 2, 2024
Former President Donald Trump hit Harris for the economic concerns, calling the vice president and her policies “even worse” than Biden.
“Of course there is a massive market downturn. Kamala is even worse than Crooked Joe. Markets will NEVER accept the Radical Left Lunatic that DESTROYED San Francisco and California, as a whole,” Trump posted. “Next move, THE GREAT DEPRESSION OF 2024! You can’t play games with MARKETS. KAMALA CRASH!!!”
