On Thursday, Axios put out an article and subsequent post that sounded like it had been pitched directly from President Joe Biden's reelection campaign. "More than half of Americans think the U.S. is in a recession. It's not," read the headline. The post, which mentioned Biden, even claimed that "the economy is in good shape."
56% of Americans think the U.S. is currently in a recession — and that Biden is responsible for a worsening economy.
— Axios (@axios) May 23, 2024
There is no recession. And the economy is in good shape. https://t.co/R05TWVn8I4
The gaslighting gets stronger from there when it comes to the actual article:
More than half of Americans — 56% — mistakenly believe the U.S. is currently in a recession and that Biden is responsible for a worsening economy, according to a stunning new poll conducted by Harris for The Guardian.
Why it matters: The economy is actually in good shape and there's no recession. But misperceptions like this are a huge political challenge for President Biden and an advantage for former President Trump as they vie for second terms.
And yet after shilling for Biden, the piece actually acknowledges how Americans are hurting, but there's still a sense of scolding about how Democrats and their allies in the mainstream media know better:
The big picture: It looks like inflation and the higher cost of living — indicators not typically part of the recession call by the NBER — could be shaping Americans' views.
- 70% of Americans said that cost of living is their biggest economic concern, followed by inflation at 68%.
- Two-thirds of Americans, including 65% of Democrats, report it's difficult to be happy about positive economic news when they feel financially squeezed each month.
- While the rate of inflation has slowed since its 2022 highs, it is still higher than most Americans are used to — and prices are up a great deal from 2019.
...
- Figuring out the right answers is tough because 64% of Americans say they don't know who to trust when it comes to learning about the economy. And that number is relatively bipartisan.
- Even if the information on the economy is reported correctly, 62% of Americans think the economy is worse than the media makes it out to be.
The bottom line: "Americans have perception gaps around the economy," Jacklyn Cooney, a research manager at Harris, tells Axios.
We're also constantly hearing about inflation rates. It's actually something Biden brags about, in addition to lying to the point where even the Washington Post fact-checker has to step in. Inflation isn't still stubbornly high, it was high in 2022, and it was much lower during former and potentially future President Donald Trump's administration. A piece from GoBankingRates shows Trump with the second lowest inflation rate among all the presidents going back to President Lyndon B. Johnson, while Biden has one of the highest.
It's no wonder that RealClearPolling has Biden's approval rating on the economy at 39.8 percent, while 58.3 percent disapprove. Even worse, Biden's approval rating on inflation is even worse, at just 34.8 percent, while 63.0 percent disapprove.
The Axios piece references one poll, a Harris poll done for the Guardian, which, not surprisingly, took a similar tone as Axios did. "Majority of Americans wrongly believe US is in recession – and most blame Biden," the headline reads.
"The survey found persistent pessimism about the economy as election day draws closer," that piece mentioned. "Many Americans put the blame on Biden for the state of the economy, with 58% of those polled saying the economy is worsening due to mismanagement from the presidential administration," it also addressed.
Axios' coverage calls the poll "stunning," but is it? Poll after poll shows that Biden is faring poorly on the economy and inflation especially, as the numbers above show. Polls also show that Trump has the edge on who voters trust to better handle the economy, which is a top issue for voters, if not the top issue. They more fondly remember his administration and how he handled the economy especially. It's no wonder that Trump enjoys a lead over Biden overall and in key battleground states.
The Economist/YouGov puts out polls on a weekly basis, which include several questions on the economy. This most recent poll shows that close to a majority of voters--44 percent--believe the economy is in "poor" shape. A majority of voters--55 percent--believe that the economy is "getting worse."
In this context, desperation from Democratic allies in the mainstream media make more sense though they also come off as more nefarious in a way.
On Friday morning, Townhall published Michael Barone's column on how "Biden Not Fooling Voters on Economy," which RealClearPolitics also included in their Friday edition. We learn from his column that it's not merely Axios, but The Atlantic's May 20 piece on "The Worst Best Economy Ever."
As Barone mentions in his column:
Real household net worth kept climbing during the Trump presidency, with some downward spikes roughly coinciding with the Nov. 2018 off-year elections and the imposition of COVID-19 restrictions. Altogether, inflation-adjustment household net worth grew a robust 16% during the Trump presidency.
In contrast, the line showing real household net worth during the Biden presidency shoots downward in summer 2022, following and perhaps sustaining the plunge of Biden's job approval rating after the botched withdrawal from Afghanistan.
For the last two years, real household net worth has mostly continued in negative territory, finally poking just barely above the Jan. 2021 level. For the total Biden presidency so far, Ip and Ettenheim reported, it is up a barely perceptible 0.7%.
Given these numbers, it should not be entirely mysterious why many people, including most partisan Republicans but many Democrats as well, don't believe they are witnessing "the strongest economy the United States has ever experienced."
It's true that most political commentary and the economic exhortation one can find in The New York Times opinion pages don't highlight changes in household net worth. But it may be a better index of voters' economic discontent (or contentment) than the oft-used unemployment or total income figures.
Since the Axios post has been up on Thursday morning, there's been over 2,000 replies and 500 quoted replies taking issue with such a take. Doug Powers at our sister site of Twitchy highlighted some of the best examples, also noting how Axios is joining in with the mainstream media in covering for Biden ahead of the election.
The economy is in such good shape that we’ve got to forgive like $100 billion in student debt every month just to give people “breathing room” https://t.co/dFD9tqojJs
— Oilfield Rando (@Oilfield_Rando) May 23, 2024
“The economy is in good shape” you stupid ungrateful poors https://t.co/xCQwcTMhYX
— Tom Elliott (@tomselliott) May 23, 2024
The people who talk the most about "living your truth" and "your lived experience" are now here to tell you that your feelings about the U.S. economy are wrong and bad. https://t.co/kzFpMzL3va
— Chuck Ross (@ChuckRossDC) May 23, 2024
The data has been cooked for 3 years to convince people their eyes & ears are lying.
— David Giglio (@DavidGiglioCA) May 23, 2024
You can manipulate data all you want, but when people check their bank accounts & struggle to make ends meet, they know the truth.
If you really believe that the PPI rose last month but CPI…
You can lie to the American people about a lot of things, but you can’t lie to them about how much money is in their bank account. People know the economy isn’t in good shape. https://t.co/0LkI44OeLF
— Vanessa (@Nessakins_) May 23, 2024
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