Former vice president Joe Biden told reporters on Thursday in Detroit that "the economy as well as the soul of this country" are collapsing because of President Donald Trump's policies.
Biden's comments came amid a defense of former president Barack Obama's legacy, which many Democratic candidates attacked at the Wednesday primary debate.
"The world has changed," Biden said. "President Trump has turned it upside down economically. People are hurting badly. There's no response. We faced a different problem ten years ago when the economy collapsed because of Republican policies. Now we face a problem that the economy, as well as the soul of this country, is collapsing because of this presidency."
Although the economy has continued to grow under Trump, 2020 Democrats have been slow to admit it. Sens. Kamala Harris (D., Calif.), Elizabeth Warren (D., Mass.), and Bernie Sanders (I., Vt.) all have said in the past few months that the economy is either in peril or already collapsing. "Something is broken in our economy," South Bend, Indiana, mayor Pete Buttigieg said in March.
At the same time, however, unemployment reached 3.8 percent in March, a 50-year low. Unemployment is at record lows for African Americans and Hispanics under Trump. The labor force participation rate is at 63.2 percent. Additionally, consumer confidence hit an 18-year high in September and, after a slight decline, rebounded in February.
Manufacturing jobs under Trump are also growing at a rate 714 percent greater than under Obama.
In July, Warren wrote a Medium post saying these signs of a strong economy warn of coming doom.
"When I look at the economy today, I see a lot to worry about again," Warren wrote. "I see a manufacturing sector in recession. I see a precarious economy that is built on debt—both household debt and corporate debt—and that is vulnerable to shocks. And I see a number of serious shocks on the horizon that could cause our economy's shaky foundation to crumble."