Investors Don’t Share Trump’s Scorn for Blue States

President Donald Trump seems to think that states led by Democratic governments are profligate and don’t deserve federal coronavirus relief aid. “I don't think the Republicans want to be in a position where they bail out states that are, that have been mismanaged over a long period of time,” he told the New York Post earlier this month. The worst offenders, he said, mentioning Illinois, New York and California, are debt-burdened places “run by Democrats in every case.” Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has said much the same thing.

Actually, no. Governors of both parties have been quick to push back, and commentators pointed out that historically Republican-dominated states like McConnell’s Kentucky tend to receive more from the federal government than they contribute to the national coffers, while states where Democrats usually prevail suffer the reverse fate.