Democrats Don't Understand 'Basic Economics'

In an attempt to mock President Trump, House Democrats’ social media team completely blasted their own economic agenda, posting an image of Trump refusing an economics book written by a legendary conservative scholar.

The official social media account for House Democrats on the Committee on Ways and Means, the oldest committee in Congress and the House’s chief tax-writing body, according to its website, posted an AI-generated image showing President Trump refusing a copy of "Basic Economics," a book by legendary conservative economist Thomas Sowell.

The post was meant to blast the president's tariff policy, as the image was reposted in response to a post by the New York Times, which read, "The U.S. trade deficit rose sharply in November, as President Trump’s tariffs generated intense volatility." However, people were quick to point out that the book is completely antithetical to the Democratic Party's governing philosophy on economics.

https://t.co/Vt7RqSuSO7 pic.twitter.com/OAG3AysJrf
— Ways and Means Democrats (@WaysMeansCmte) January 29, 2026

The book itself highlights how free markets efficiently allocate scarce resources through prices, outperforming government controls, which distort outcomes and create shortages or surpluses that don't reflect the needs of the country. The book criticizes almost every Democrat economic policy, including price controls, minimum wage hikes, and heavy government regulation.

The account was quick to try and save face, posting only an hour later, "this is a JOKE, it does not mean we endorse Thomas Sowell."

This episode is just the latest self-own by Democrats, as they continue to suffer from what many describe as a pandemic of “Trump Derangement Syndrome.” In their rush to land a cheap shot at the president, Democrats once again showed they are willing to undermine their own policies and their own stated goals for the American people, so long as it serves to make the president look bad.