Trump blames Democrats for the stock plunge: the S&P 500 was already 3% off its high before the vote

President Trump put the blame for Thursday's sell-off on Democrats. In a Truth Social post reported by Fox Business, he wrote that the stock market "suffered one of the Worst Days in History based on the results of the Election," that "your 401(k)s have, therefore, dropped," and that "it wasn't Republicans, it was Dumocrats." Fox reported he added that the country would "soon, one way or the other, be BIGGER AND STRONGER THAN EVER BEFORE." The story is also running at The Independent, Yahoo Finance and The New York Times, which is leading its live coverage with the jobs report due at 8:30 AM ET.

We are reporting what he said and what the market did. We checked the second part ourselves.

What the market actually did

Source: Yahoo Finance daily closes; percent changes are our arithmetic. Thursday's moves were -4.36% for the S&P 500, -3.44% for the Dow and -5.52% for the Nasdaq, matching Fox Business's figures.

The number behind the number

Three details change how to read the post.

It was a bad day, not a historic one. The S&P 500's 4.36% drop was its worst since April 2025, according to Fox Business, which is about 19 months. Past crashes are far larger. On a single-day basis it does not belong near the worst days in market history, though the Philadelphia semiconductor index's fall of more than 12% was severe for that group.

The market had been falling before the election. The S&P 500 closed at its record of 7,818.93 on Oct. 6. By the close on Election Day, Nov. 3, it was 7,568.92, already 3.2% lower. The Nasdaq Composite, whose record close was near 27,600, was about 8% below that high on Election Day. Thursday took the S&P 500 to 5.9% below its record and the Nasdaq to about 11.9% below, into correction territory.

The 401(k) loss is real but smaller than Thursday's headline. Wednesday's rally after the vote erased part of it. From the Election Day close to Thursday's close, the S&P 500 is down 2.8%, and the Dow is down only 0.5%. The damage is concentrated in chips and AI-linked stocks, which is why broad index funds fell less than the semiconductor group. A saver in a plain S&P 500 fund is down roughly $2,800 on a $100,000 balance since Tuesday, and about $5,900 from the October peak.

What drove the selling

Fox Business reported that the sell-off was partly tied to tech and AI shares as investors weighed what Democratic wins might mean for AI regulation and data center development, and quoted eToro analyst Jakub Rochlitz saying markets were "pricing in the midterm results." So the election is part of the explanation offered by market commentators, and Trump's claim has some support there. But the same Fox report also cites other pressures: heavy borrowing and spending tied to the AI buildout, rising energy costs and uncertain returns. Our closing report found the same split, and noted that no data center moratorium has been enacted and that we found no company filing cancelling a project. Whether the election was the cause or the trigger for a slide already under way is a judgment, not a measured fact, and no outlet we read can prove it either way.

Who it actually hits

Politics aside, the practical exposure sits with two groups. Savers near retirement with concentrated tech holdings took the largest hit. Owners in the data center supply chain, such as electrical and HVAC contractors, should watch for customers asking to pause projects. Our listings show about 25,380 independent electrical contractors and 40,729 independent HVAC businesses on file, per our Nov. 5 report. Nothing official has changed their orders yet.

What to watch today

The October jobs report arrives at 8:30 AM ET, and our pre-market brief has the futures and the consensus forecast. A soft or strong number will move rate expectations, which matter as much to chip valuations as any election result.

Sources: Fox Business (the post and market figures); Yahoo Finance daily closes pulled Nov. 6, 2026; The Independent, Yahoo Finance and The New York Times headlines. We have not independently viewed the post itself and quote it as reported by Fox Business. This is market information, not investment advice.