White House invents new economy narrative
The “Biden administration” is pushing a new narrative to combat Biden’s plummeting approval ratings over the economy, which is on the brink of a recession: insisting that the economy is stronger than ever.
On Monday, Biden tweeted that the economy is recovering with record-high strength.
“At the time I took office about 16 months ago, the economy had stalled and COVID was out of control. Today, thanks to the economic plan and the vaccination plan that my Administration put into action, America has achieved the most robust recovery in modern history.”
On Tuesday, Biden repeated the narrative.
“The fact is America is in a stronger economic position today than just about any other country in the world,” Biden tweeted. “Independent experts have even projected that the U.S. economy could grow faster than China’s economy this year. That hasn’t happened since 1976.”
In reality, even the Federal Reserve’s GDPNow tracker is showing the economy hurtling towards a recession, and nearly half of American families with kids report not being able to afford food after tax credit payments run out. Most families say they’re living off savings and are no longer able to plan for the future.
But in a Tuesday press briefing, White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre continued the odd messaging in response to a reporter’s question.
“Why do you think it is that 83 percent of people polled by The Wall Street Journal say the economy is ‘poor’ or ‘not so good’?" asked Fox News correspondent Peter Doocy.
Jean-Pierre began her response by acknowledging that consumer confidence is low and Americans are hurting financially.
“So, when it comes to consumer confidence — is what you’re talking about there — we know that can reflect concern and uncertainty about higher prices. People feel the effect of high prices when they go to the grocery store and they fill up their gans- — gas tank,” she said, adding that Biden “understands” what it’s like.
She then proceeded to say that actually, Americans are happier than ever financially, based in part on 2013 data from a government survey.
“But the fact is: We are in a fundamentally different place compared to when the President took office and compared to this time a year ago.... people felt uncertainty — uncertain about the economy generally, but they actually felt as good about their personal financial situations as they ever have, according to the Federal Reserve survey, with nearly 80 percent of adults reporting that they are financially comfortable.”
The last Federal Reserve survey conducted was in 2019, according to its website.
Doocy again challenged Jean-Pierre, noting the financial challenges to American families.
“But...you’re saying that people feel good about their personal financial situation. High gas prices, people can’t get baby formula, the supply chain is messed up, everything is more expensive. Where’s the good part?”
In response, Jean-Pierre acknowledged that she was using data from 2013 but still added that the economy is at record-high levels.
“What we’re trying to say, what I’m trying to say to you is that the economy is in a better place than it has been historically,” Jean-Pierre said.
