On Tuesday’s PBS NewsHour, White House correspondent Laura Barron-Lopez acted as mouthpiece for the Biden administration to trumpet the so-called success of Bidenomics, tied to the president’s recent campaign trek to Milwaukee marking the anniversary of the so-called Inflation Reduction Act.
Laura Barrón-López: The new message, as Biden ramps up his 2024 reelection campaign, follows a string of good economic headlines, unemployment at near record lows, inflation among the lowest of the G7 nations, GDP growth at 2.4 percent last quarter, and recession fears fading on Wall Street.
Notice above the sleight-of-hand Barron-Lopez pulled to hide how bad inflation really is under Biden's inflationary policies ("inflation among the lowest of the G7 nations").
Kamala Harris, Vice President of the United States: Recall, these fancy people used to say, well, a recession is inevitable. Now, however, those same people acknowledge that President Biden and I have delivered strong and steady growth for our nation.
Barrón-López: A year ago, soaring gas and grocery prices cast a shadow over the president's agenda. Now things are different.
Laura Tyson, Former Director, U.S. National Economic Council: The economy looks very strong. It looks very strong.
Barrón-López: Laura Tyson served as chief economist for President Bill Clinton. Like many economists, she is increasingly optimistic about the country's trajectory.
Note that for this partially taxpayer-funded report, Barron-Lopez cited the Democratic vice-president and interviewed a Democratic economist and a Democratic strategist.
Barrón-López: Like the Inflation Reduction Act, an expansive law designed to boost clean energy projects and lower prescription drug prices, and the bipartisan CHIPS and Science ACT, which the White House says spurred over $166 billion in private sector investment into the semiconductor industry, and helped add 800,000 manufacturing jobs in the U.S. since the president took office.
Tyson: Manufacturing, construction, has significantly increased. Some of the infrastructure projects are in place, are being done. Some of the climate investments are starting to be made. These are things which are going to take some time to affect the economy.
Barrón-López: That's in part why the steady stream of strong market and labor numbers have not helped improve President Biden's standing. His approval rating is stuck in the low 40s. Just 20 percent of Americans think the economy is in excellent or in good shape. And 57 percent say the economy has been weakened by the president's policies.
Cornell Belcher, Former Obama Campaign Pollster: Biden has a fantastic story to tell about experience, getting things done and making the economy work for you. Right now, they're just not connecting the dots back to Biden.
….
Donald Trump: Anything that's good that's happening with the economy, it's only because they're running on the fumes of what we built. You understand that. They're running on the fumes, but those fumes can't last much longer.
Lopez finished with pro-Biden economic propaganda. It seems like journalistic malpractice to say Trump failed to create new jobs during his tenure without mentioning how COVID-19 helped decimate millions of jobs, while letting Biden make the lazy, dishonest liberal argument about “tax giveaways to the ultra-rich” without any rebuttal allowed. Trump is just compared to Hoover and the Great Depression:
Barrón-López: Trump is the only president since Herbert Hoover to leave office with fewer jobs in the country than when he started. And the Biden campaign expressed confidence Bidenomics is working, telling "NewsHour": "We are running an aggressive campaign and will be communicating the choice Americans have in this race between President Biden's experienced leadership, while drawing a contrast with the deeply unpopular and twice-rejected MAGA agenda focused on tax giveaways to the ultra rich."
It's a contrast both campaigns will hammer in the months to come.
This pro-Biden segment was brought to you in part by Consumer Cellular.
A transcript is available, click “Expand” to read:
PBS
PBS NewsHour 8/15/23
7:20:26 p.m. (ET)
Laura Barrón-López: The new message as Biden ramps up his 2024 reelection campaign follows a string of good economic headlines, unemployment at near record lows, inflation among the lowest of the G7 nations, GDP growth at 2.4 percent last quarter, and recession fears fading on Wall Street.
Kamala Harris, Vice President of the United States: Recall, these fancy people used to say, well, a recession is inevitable. Now, however, those same people acknowledge that President Biden and I have delivered strong and steady growth for our nation.
Laura Barrón-López: A year ago, soaring gas and grocery prices cast a shadow over the president's agenda. Now things are different.
Laura Tyson, Former Director, U.S. National Economic Council: The economy looks very strong. It looks very strong.
Laura Barrón-López: Laura Tyson served as chief economist for President Bill Clinton. Like many economists, she is increasingly optimistic about the country's trajectory.
Laura Tyson: The inflation rate has come down a lot. And the economy has continued to grow enough to keep the unemployment rate down, to keep labor force participation rates up, to generate some real wage growth, to generate strength in the labor market.
So I put all that together and say that's a pretty strong macroeconomy.
Laura Barrón-López: Some of that is due to the Federal Reserve, which, under Chairman Jerome Powell, has steadily raised interest rates to cool inflation and operates independently from the administration.
But economists like Tyson also point to the president's push for legislation on manufacturing and cutting costs for Americans.
Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY): It's now law.
Laura Barrón-López: Like the Inflation Reduction Act, an expansive law designed to boost clean energy projects and lower prescription drug prices, and the bipartisan CHIPS and Science ACT, which the White House says spurred over $166 billion in private sector investment into the semiconductor industry, and helped add 800,000 manufacturing jobs in the U.S. since the president took office.
Laura Tyson: Manufacturing, construction has significantly increased. Some of the infrastructure projects are in place, are being done. Some of the climate investments are starting to be made. These are things which are going to take some time to affect the economy.
Laura Barrón-López: That's in part why the steady stream of strong market and labor numbers have not helped improve President Biden's standing. His approval rating is stuck in the low 40s. Just 20 percent of Americans think the economy is in excellent or in good shape. And 57 percent say the economy has been weakened by the president's policies.
Cornell Belcher, Former Obama Campaign Pollster: Biden has a fantastic story to tell about experience, getting things done and making the economy work for you. Right now, they're just not connecting the dots back to Biden.
Laura Barrón-López: Cornell Belcher is a longtime Democratic strategist. He said Biden's persistent low approval is not just about Americans' perception of the economy.
Cornell Belcher: There's more variables at play than simply the economy. And a lot of what we're picking up on is, Americans are anxious about a number of different issues. They're anxious about when the next shoe is going to drop in, and issues about control.
Laura Barrón-López: Belcher conducts regular focus groups. He's found that, from the pandemic to abortion rights and a chaotic and divisive political atmosphere, Americans are racked with uncertainty.
To combat that, he said, the president needs to loudly own the good economic numbers and sell his wins.
Cornell Belcher: And I know there's been some hesitation with people in the administration about, OK, people aren't feeling good about the economy, so should we, in fact, lean in and talk about how good the economy is?
I think you're going to see a lot less of that hesitation. I hope you will see a lot less their hesitation over the next couple of months, because they really do have to sell the economy.
Donald Trump, Former President of the United States: The Biden economic bust will be replaced with the historic Trump economic boom.
Laura Barrón-López: And if President Biden doesn't take the credit, former President Donald Trump, the leading GOP presidential contender, will.
Donald Trump: Anything that's good that's happening with the economy, it's only because they're running on the fumes of what we built. You understand that. They're running on the fumes, but those fumes can't last much longer.
Laura Barrón-López: Trump is the only president since Herbert Hoover to leave office with fewer jobs in the country than when he started.
And the Biden campaign expressed confidence Bidenomics is working, telling "NewsHour": "We are running an aggressive campaign and will be communicating the choice Americans have in this race between President Biden's experienced leadership, while drawing a contrast with the deeply unpopular and twice-rejected MAGA agenda focused on tax giveaways to the ultra rich."
It's a contrast both campaigns will hammer in the months to come.
For the "PBS NewsHour" I'm Laura Barrón-López.
