It took 16 years, but new polling shows Democrats regaining an advantage on the economy

In 2004, NBC News sat down with a prominent real estate developer named Donald Trump, who shared a notable observation based on his experience in the private sector. “The economy does better under the Democrats than under the Republicans,” he said.

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Trump has had a lengthy career in public life, and this was one of the few instances when his comments on the economy were correct.

It’s a debate Republicans tend to avoid, but since the end of World War II, on every leading metric — from job growth to economic growth to stock market performance — the American economy during Democratic administrations has easily outperformed the results during Republican administrations.

It should be lost on no one that over the last half-century, there have been recessions under every Republican president, and economic recoveries under every Democratic president.

And yet, for reasons that remain difficult to understand, much of the country has shrugged off the real-world evidence and unambiguous results. In fact, in recent years, polls have consistently shown Americans have more confidence in Republicans when it comes to handling the economy.

This pattern made the latest Fox News poll that much more notable. The Hill reported: