FLASHBACK: Before Trump was a GOP politician he admitted the economy does better under Democrats

Columnist Mehdi Hasan found a 2004 video of President Donald Trump long before he came down the Trump Tower escalator to announce his campaign against Hillary Clinton.

"It just seems that the economy does better under the Democrats than the Republicans," Trump says in the video.

He's not too far off. Under Democrats, private-sector job growth has been faster.

Data shows that the economy entered a recession in February, despite Trump's big talk about the strength of his economy.

The National Bureau of Economic Research that identifies downturns outlined the data in June.

“While analysts often refer to recessions as two consecutive quarters of contraction, in the United States the NBER formally determines when they begin and end based on a range of factors, most importantly domestic production and employment,” explained the New York Times. “Most economists expect that this recession will be both deep and short, with the economy rebounding as state economies reopen and the world figures out how to function amid the coronavirus pandemic.”