Trump Blames Democratic Election Gains for Thursday’s Stock Selloff

President Donald Trump blamed Democrats’ gains in Tuesday’s midterm elections for Thursday’s U.S. stock selloff, while Bitcoin (BTC) and Ether (ETH) were also lower early Friday.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell about 3.44% Thursday, the S&P 500 lost about 4.36%, and the Nasdaq Composite dropped about 5.52%. Trump said in a post that the election results had hurt the market and asserted that Americans’ 401(k) retirement accounts had lost value. In a later post Thursday, he again blamed Democrats’ election gains for the decline.

Trump had struck a different tone Wednesday. He claimed the stock market had recorded highs on 91 trading days in less than two years and said Americans’ 401(k) accounts were “through the roof.” The record count and the statements about retirement balances were Trump’s claims.

Bitcoin traded at $75,566 as of 3:42 a.m. ET Friday (08:42 UTC), down 6.21% over 24 hours. Ether was $2,225.89 at the same time, down 8.17% over 24 hours. Those 24-hour changes cover a different period from Thursday’s U.S. stock market session.