Once again, the White House is repeating the talking points about job creation and wages, with Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre leaning on such narratives during Tuesday's press briefing. Her response, which was part of a lofty non-answer as to whether or not President Joe Biden "believe[s] that systemic racism is a prevalent or defining feature of American life today," shows that this administration not only has a habit of bragging about the economy, but that they do so by answering questions that weren't even asked of them.
How, then, did Jean-Pierre find her way to talking about the economy? The economy, along with "racial injustices" the press secretary spoke about, are supposedly two of the "four crises that this country was facing," as the president saw it upon taking office. The others included "the climate change crisis" and COVID.
Although the reporter specifically asked "does President Biden believe that systemic racism is a prevalent or defining feature of American life today," the most consequential part of Jean-Pierre's response had to do with the economy.
"He talked about the economy and how the economy was upside down," Jean-Pierre offered, speaking about when Biden took office. "Businesses were shut down. Schools were shut down. We were in a completely different place because of the lack of action that the last administration took. And the President took action. Democrats took action. We passed the American Rescue Plan. And now we’re in a place where we’ve created more than 13 million jobs. We’re in a place where wages are up. Inflation is coming down; it’s easing. And we have talked about Bidenomics, the President’s plan, and how it’s moving this country forward."
KARINE JEAN-PIERRE:
— Townhall.com (@townhallcom) July 25, 2023
"We've created more than 13,000,000 jobs...Wages are up. Inflation is coming down...Bidenomics...it's moving this country forward!" pic.twitter.com/1hcnyPChjU
That's a lot to unpack there. When it comes to Jean-Pierre talking about how "schools were shut down," it was Democrats who kept them closed. The Biden White House even colluded with the teachers unions on the talking points regarding school closures and re-openings.
As Democrats have loved to do since it passed over two years ago, Jean-Pierre promoted the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA), completely leaving out how even Democratic economists like Larry Summers warned it would lead to massive inflation. Yet Jean-Pierre still has the gall to celebrate inflation rates.
Spencer covered earlier this month how the consumer price index (CPI) numbers for June still raise concerns about inflation.
One of the biggest lies included how the Biden administration has "created more than 13 million jobs," a claim that has been fact-checked repeatedly, including by Townhall. Those jobs weren't "created." Rather, people returned to work after the pandemic. Further, no matter how many times Jean-Pierre and others want to claim "wages are up," the government's own numbers show that to not be the case when it comes to keeping up with inflation.
According to data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, inflation-adjusted average hourly earnings were at $11.41 an hour when Biden took office. The release from May 2023, showed they were at $11.03 an hour and at $11.05 in June. They may have gone up from the paltry $10.92 in June 2022, but it's considerably lower than when Biden's predecessor, Donald Trump had just left office.
Inflation-adjusted income is up 3.5% since @POTUS took office and low-wage workers have seen the largest wage gains over the last year – helping power our economy.
— The White House (@WhiteHouse) July 12, 2023
Bidenomics is growing the economy from the middle out and the bottom up.
It was then that Jean-Pierre was willing to talk about racial issues. "And last but not least, obviously, he talked about the racial injustices that we’re seeing," she offered. "He talked about systemic racism. He’s talked about this many times. He mentioned this earlier today when he talked about Emmett Till and the monument that he was — that he signed."
Biden had also signed and given remarks for a national monument proclamation earlier on Tuesday, nearly flubbing Emmett Till's name as he did so.
Did Joe Biden almost refer to Emmett Till as “Evan?” pic.twitter.com/IuC70pYfgx
— Townhall.com (@townhallcom) July 25, 2023
"And so, this is an issue — a question that the president has dealt with in a serious way on the federal level, signing an executive order very early on in the days of his administration to make sure that we have a federal government that’s — that moves forward in an equitable way," Jean-Pierre went on to say, using one of the president's favorite buzz words, going on to repeat how "equity" is at the center of what the president does, supposedly "so that we do not leave anybody behind."
The reporter tried to follow up, asking for clarification. "So I understand correctly, is what you just said synonymous with saying that the President believes we are still a racist country," he asked.
He was once again given a non-answer, as Jean-Pierre's response in part involved literally repeating herself. "What the president believes is that we are — we have to deal with racial injustices in this country, that we have to deal with it in a real way, that we have to create a situation where — and he does this with his policy — that there’s equity at the center of everything and that we do not leave anybody behind," she claimed. "And so, that is what’s important. And he has shown that by action."
This is hardly the first time that the White House has desperately tried to brag about their deeply unpopular economic policies when responding to a totally unrelated question. Earlier this month, Deputy Press Secretary Andrew Bates claimed he couldn't speak to whether the cocaine found at the White House was Hunter Biden's because of the Hatch Act. He didn't end his response there, though, instead moving on to promote Bidenomics at length.
On claims "the cocaine found in the White House had belonged to either the president or his son. Are you willing to say that that's not the case?"
— RNC Research (@RNCResearch) July 6, 2023
Mid-level Biden staffer Andrew Bates: "I don't have a response to that because we have to be careful about the Hatch Act" pic.twitter.com/zuM30v5Fli
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