First up on Fox: A letter signed by 16 top economists warning about the economic dangers of electing former President Trump, which is being amplified by the Biden campaign and other Biden surrogates, is filled with signers who have either donated to Biden or supported him politically in the past.
“Although each of us has different views on the details of various economic policies, we all agree that Joe Biden’s economic agenda is significantly superior to that of Donald Trump,” the economists wrote in an earlier letter. As reported by Axios A video has surfaced this week that has been promoted on X (formerly known as Twitter) by various members of the Biden campaign.
The letter’s Nobel Prize-winning signers have shown political donations to President Biden’s 2020 and 2024 campaigns. A Fox News Digital review found the signers also donated tens of thousands of dollars to other Democrat candidates and signed previous letters supporting Biden’s agenda, including one attacking a “selfish and restless” Trump.
Economist Joseph Stiglitz, the Columbia University professor who reportedly led the letter, previously signed a letter supporting Biden’s Build Back Better agenda and donated $1,250 to the Biden Victory Fund in 2020.
Experts predict inflation election problem will spell trouble for Biden: It’s ‘too late’ to fix it
Former President Trump and President Biden (Getty Images)
Between 2004 and 2020, Stiglitz Over $90,000 donated That’s a major blow to Democratic candidates, FEC records show.
Georgetown University professor George A. Akerlof, who is married to Biden’s Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen, donated $25,000 to the Biden Victory Fund and gave the campaign $5,600, the maximum amount he gave as a 2020 donor.
Akerlof, who has donated nearly $90,000 to Democrats between the 1990s and 2022, also signed a letter supporting Build Back Better and signed a letter in 2020. Trump’s re-election effort “Selfish and careless.”
Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen speaks during a press conference at the US Embassy in Beijing, China, on July 9, 2023. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)
Claudia Goldin, a Harvard University economist and historian, donated $500 to the Biden campaign in both 2020 and 2024 and has donated more than $8,000 to Democrats in recent years. Signed 2020 letter Supporting the Biden campaign.
Economist and mathematician Eric Maskin signed a letter expressing support for the Biden campaign’s agenda in 2020 and has donated $3,000 to Democrats in recent years, including Senate candidates Raphael Warnock, Beto O’Rourke and Jon Ossoff.
When contacted for comment on his background in supporting Biden and the Democrats, Maskin said in a statement to Fox News Digital, “Although I am a registered Democrat and have donated money to Democratic candidates on a number of occasions, I have also voted for a number of Republicans over the years (including Bill Weld and Charlie Baker for governor of Massachusetts).”
He said he considers himself “more of a centrist than a strong partisan in any ideological direction” and pointed to a recent article he wrote against political polarization in favor of a Republican senator and “supports the 2020 Biden agenda on its economic merits and signed the recent letter for those very reasons.”
Stanford University economist Paul Milgrom also signed the earlier letters Supporting Build Back Better and called Trump’s 2020 campaign “selfish and reckless”.
Daniel McFadden, an economics professor at UC Berkeley, donated at least $4,500 to Democrats in 2020. He also signed a letter saying Biden’s Build Back Better plan would “lower” inflation. part of second letter Supporting Biden in 2020.
President Biden has received strong backlash from Republicans and Democrats over his “Build Back Better” agenda. (Reuters)
University of Chicago economist Roger Myerson donated $2,350 to the Biden campaign in 2020 and $250 in 2024, in addition to donating more than $40,000 to Democrats between 2004 and 2024.
Myerson also previously signed a letter supporting Build Back Better and Biden’s economic reform agenda. “A dictator would be bad for America from day one, and we as patriotic Americans must testify to that fact,” the University of Chicago economist wrote in a post on Twitter after the letter was published.
“As economists, we can attest that his policies will not help against inflation either,” he added.
Economist Edmund S. Phelps Wrote an article In 2020 he called it the “economic case for Biden” and added that everything Trump has said in the past has been a “disaster.”
Inflation has risen 20% since Biden took office
Phelps has also donated to Democrats in the past, including $1,500 to a Democratic House candidate and $25 to Pete Buttigieg.
Boston College economist Paul Romer previously described the Trump years as “tragic” and publicly supported his impeachment. Romer endorsed Biden in a 2020 letter, praising Biden’s pandemic plan and signing a letter in support of Build Back Better.
Stanford University economist Alvin Roth also signed several letters opposing Trump and supported a letter that called him “selfish and reckless”. $1,250 donation In front of presidential candidate Barack Obama in 2008.
Nobel Prize-winning economist William Sharpe donated $500 to the Biden campaign and $500 to the Biden Victory Fund in 2020. Sharpe also said signed a letter Calling on business leaders in 2020, arguing that it’s time to speak out against Trump and the “threat he poses to the republic.”
Former President Obama conferred with President Biden during the unveiling ceremony for Obama’s official White House portrait in Washington, DC, September 7, 2022 (Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images)
Yale University economist Robert Shiller donated $1,000 to the Biden Victory Fund in 2020 and more than $20,000 overall to Democrats in recent years. In 2019, Shiller said he would support any candidate over Trump.
Princeton University economist Christopher Sims donated $500 to the Biden Victory Fund in 2020 and more than $9,000 to various Democrats.
Two British economists on the list, Sir Oliver Hart and Sir Angus Deaton, signed a letter in support of Build Back Better. Hart endorsed Biden in 2020 and also signed a 2020 letter calling Trump “selfish and reckless.”
Several Biden campaign officials worked on the story Tuesday morning to push the Axios report, including James Singer, the Biden campaign’s rapid-response adviser, and Julie Chavez Rodriguez, the campaign manager.
White House senior deputy press secretary Andrew Bates and other Biden surrogates also shared and cited the report, including California Gov. Gavin Newsom.
Tim Murtaugh, who served as Trump’s 2020 campaign spokesman, made fun of the report “How amazing that this happened right when Biden will mention it in the upcoming debate (it’s a good thing he will do so),” he said on social media Tuesday.
Click here to get the Fox News app
“This is almost as much a stroke of luck as the letter from 51 intelligence officials claiming Hunter’s laptop was Russian disinformation,” Murtaugh said. “Amazing.”
Axios did not note the economists’ past political activism in the story, nor did it note that one of the top signatories is married to Biden’s Treasury Secretary, Janet Yellen.
Axios did not respond to a request for comment from Fox News Digital.
Fox News Digital contacted the Biden campaign and all 16 economists for comment.
