Republicans are turning positive economic news into attacks on Democratic candidates, warning of dire consequences if the minority party wins control of Congress in the midterm elections.



GOP candidates for months have touted the booming economy in their pitch to voters, highlighting historically low unemployment and gross domestic product expanding at a healthy clip.

President Trump Donald John TrumpSteele Dossier sub-source was subject of FBI counterintelligence probe Pelosi slams Trump executive order on pre-existing conditions: It 'isn't worth the paper it's signed on' Trump 'no longer angry' at Romney because of Supreme Court stance MORE this week credited his administration for spurring that growth.



ADVERTISEMENT

“One of the reasons the economy is so strong is that we're not hampered by the ridiculous regulations that we were getting rid of and are getting rid of,” he said at a Cabinet meeting.

But GOP rhetoric now includes doomsday predictions about what would happen if Democrats win the House or Senate on Election Day.



When asked about the stock market on Fox News last week, Trump said, "The Democrats, you look at what they would do to it. They would knock it down, you'd — instead of being up 50 percent, you'd be down 50 percent."



He’s not the only one painting a picture of a potential downturn if Democrats get a chance to pursue their economic policies on Capitol Hill. Republicans running for reelection have made similar arguments, often linking them to House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi Nancy PelosiPelosi slams Trump executive order on pre-existing conditions: It 'isn't worth the paper it's signed on' On The Money: Anxious Democrats push for vote on COVID-19 aid | Pelosi, Mnuchin ready to restart talks | Weekly jobless claims increase | Senate treads close to shutdown deadline Trump signs largely symbolic pre-existing conditions order amid lawsuit MORE (D-Calif.), who is favored to be Speaker if Democrats retake the House.



"It's no time to turn back to the failed Obama era and economy," said Rep. Dave Brat (R-Va.) at a debate this week with his Democratic challenger, Abigail Spanberger. "If you vote for my opponent tonight, you will get the liberal Nancy Pelosi agenda across the board. You will get large companies running our economy instead of small people and small firms competing.”



Conservative commentator Hugh Hewitt took a similar approach this week when he tweeted a story on strong manufacturing numbers and added, "If we are tired of this we can just give the Speaker’s Gavel back to @NancyPelosi folks."



Sen. Ted Cruz Rafael (Ted) Edward CruzThe Hill's Morning Report - Sponsored by Facebook - Trump previews SCOTUS nominee as 'totally brilliant' Cruz blocks amended resolution honoring Ginsburg over language about her dying wish Trump argues full Supreme Court needed to settle potential election disputes MORE (R-Texas) warned that a Democratic majority in the House would impeach Trump, creating political chaos that would spook markets and drown the economy.



“If we had impeachment next year, we'd see utter chaos,” Cruz said in his debate with Rep. Beto O’Rourke (D) this week. “We would see an end to the repeal of the job-killing regulations that's fueling our economic growth.”



“I want to keep the economic boom we're experiencing right now going, moving forward,” he added. “Congressman O'Rourke wants the next two years to be drawn into the partisan circus of impeachment proceedings against President Trump.”



In Iowa, Rep. David Young David Edmund YoungEric Idle threatens to sue GOP committee over use of Monty Python song in ad Trump: DeJoy should be removed if it 'can be proven that he did something wrong' The Hill's 12:30 Report - Presented by Facebook - Trump's Labor Day news conference MORE (R) combined the two arguments.



“We do not need to go backwards with Nancy Pelosi as Speaker raising taxes, over-regulating our economy. And that side of the aisle, Speaker Pelosi is talking about impeaching,” he said in a debate this month with Democrat Cindy Axne. “We need to go forward to make sure that this tax relief continues and economic opportunity continues and freedom keeps continuing.”

Data analysis site FiveThirtyEight said Monday that Democrats have an 86 percent chance of winning the House, but just a 22 percent chance of taking the Senate.



Betsy McCaughey, a GOP commentator and former lieutenant governor of New York, said regulatory changes sought by the left would lead to a market sell-off.



"These changes will tank the economy and hurt the very workers the party claims to represent," she wrote in Investor's Business Daily, calling the election a "referendum on capitalism.”

Democrats have said they will make oversight of the Trump administration a key priority if they take over the House, though Pelosi has batted away suggestions that impeachment would be on their agenda.

House Democrats have also expressed interest in bolstering financial regulatory bodies such as the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and scaling back some of the benefits from the GOP tax cuts that went to the wealthy and to corporations. They would need bipartisan agreement in the Senate and a signature from Trump to turn any legislative initiatives into law.