Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton trolled former President Donald Trump over his broken promise to "reduce the national debt" in a blunt tweet in which she noted that it "may shock" people to "learn that he lied."
During his tenure as President, Trump oversaw a significant increase in the national debt which could have a devastating impact for future generations, according to experts who spoke to ProPublica.
You can see Clinton's tweet below.
The national debt increased by nearly $7.8 trillion under Trump's watch, a sum equivalent to twice the amount of all non-mortgage debt held by Americans, including student loans, car loans and credit card debt. This translates to roughly $23,500 in new debt per person across the country.
Eugene Steuerle, a leading budget expert and co-founder of the Urban-Brookings Tax Policy Center, calculated Trump's administration had the third-highest increase in the annual deficit relative to the size of the economy of any U.S. presidency.
This is particularly noteworthy because unlike other presidents who oversaw larger relative increases, such as George W. Bush and Abraham Lincoln, Trump did not have to pay for a civil war or launch foreign conflicts.
Many were not surprised by what Clinton pointed out—and couldn't help but echo her criticisms of Trump.
Clinton's tweet comes as Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen issued a warning the United States might run out of funds to pay its obligations by June 1 unless Congress raises or suspends the debt ceiling.
The accelerated timeline could speed up the negotiations between the House, Senate and President Biden on government spending. This is a critical point of contention between the president and House Republicans who are demanding significant spending cuts before they agree to raise the debt ceiling.
Following Yellen’s updated timeline, President Biden contacted the top four congressional leaders on Monday to request a meeting on May 9 for discussions on fiscal matters.
