Democratic presidential candidate John Delaney on Wednesday said he feels like "some Democrats are cheering on a recession."
Delaney was taking questions from reporters when Associated Press reporter Alexandra Jaffe asked the former Maryland Congressman a question about a potential recession.
"It feels like some Democrats are cheering on a recession because they want to stick it to Trump," Delaney said. "I don't want a recession because I don't want these workers in here to face a recession, but I worry that Trump's policies are bringing one on."
.@DJJudd followed up multiple times asking Delaney which Democrats he feels are cheering on a recession: pic.twitter.com/MASi3Nyvhv
— Musadiq Bidar (@Bidar411) August 21, 2019
CNN reporter DJ Judd followed up with Delaney to ask him if he could specify which Democrats were cheering on a recession, prompting him to say, "I'm not going to name names."
"You just get a sense—like my position is very clear, which is I hope a recession doesn't happen. I believe Trump's economic policies are fraudulent, right? He gave us a sugar high with spending and tax cuts," Delaney said. "He didn't make good investments and he got us in a trade war, so I believe that's going to end very badly and it's going to be something the next president has to deal with."
Judd asked whether Delaney believes Democrats are rooting for a recession, prompting him to deflect.
"Listen," Delaney said, "I think it's just very important that we be clear as a party that we don't want a recession."
Liberal comedian Bill Maher said back in June he was "hoping" for a recession because he believed a "crashing economy" would be one way of getting rid of President Donald Trump in 2020. He repeated his support of a recession a couple of weeks ago, saying, "You should wish for a recession because that will definitely get [Trump] unelected."
NBC News foreign correspondent Richard Engel agreed with Maher, prompting him to say, "Short-term pain might be better than long-term destruction of the Constitution."
This isn't the first time Delaney has taken a shot at some of his Democratic opponents. Back in June, Delaney was booed after he was critical of Medicare for All, a health care proposal that several of his opponents support, including Sens. Bernie Sanders (I., Vt.), Elizabeth Warren (D., Mass.), and Kamala Harris (D., Calif.), who recently backtracked on the proposal. Last month he also used his opening statement at the CNN debate to specifically attack Warren and Sanders.
"Folks, we have a choice," Delaney said. "We can go down the road that Sen. Sanders and Sen. Warren wanna take us with bad policies like Medicare for All, free everything and impossible promises that'll turn off independent voters and get Trump reelected."