A few morning show hosts supposedly found the “silver lining” Wednesday in a devastating report showing that inflation skyrocketed in June for the fastest increase since 1981.
The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) July 13 report revealed that inflation soared by 9.1 percent year-over-year, beating estimates of an 8.8-percent increase, according to a Refinitiv estimate cited by CNN. But that didn’t stop the morning news propagandists from spinning the inflation spike as holding some good news for the American public. NBC’s 3rd Hour of Today attempted to portray the positives about the inflation news while ABC’s Good Morning America offered positive spin prior to the report. CBS Mornings, for its part, completely ignored inflation.
ABC host Robin Roberts claimed that a slight decrease in gas prices was a “bit of a silver lining” amid the inflation surge on Good Morning America. NBC host Tom Costello similarly attempted to paint lipstick on the inflationary pig by pointing to a slight decrease in wheat and corn prices on NBC’s 3rd Hour of Today.
“Mister Costello, how bad is it?” 3rd Hour of Today host Craig Melvin asked Costello on the record high inflation numbers. “It’s bad,” Costello responded. “We were expecting 8.8 percent. So this is hotter than many people had expected.”
But Costello soon launched into full on spin mode: “Even though there are now signs that oil and gas prices are coming down, it has not yet filtered into the inflation report,” he said. ”Let’s just pause for a moment and think about that. If you’ve gone to your gas station in the last few weeks, you know prices are starting to come down. You may have noticed wheat, corn prices are starting to come down. Okay.” [Emphasis added].
Gas prices have shot up by 59.9 percent over the past year, according to the BLS report.
“This inflation report today was taken in June, and may not be calculating in that decline in commodity prices,” Costello added.
In all likelihood, that still won’t provide much comfort to American families, who are on average paying $450 more per month for the same goods as last year due to inflation, according to the American Enterprise Institute. And that wasn’t the only barrier facing down American families this summer.
Rent prices jumped by the highest rate since 1986, according to the BLS report.
Prior to the report's release, ABC also downplayed the inflation spike yet at the same time emphasizing some so-called “silver lining” in the details of the inflation report. ABC reporter Whit Johnson conceded that gas prices are $4.63 a gallon, up a painful $1.48 from just one year ago. “But GasBuddy is predicting that those prices will start to come down in the coming months,” Johnson said. Roberts summed up Johnson’s biased reporting on inflation. “Bit of a silver lining there,” she said.
Conservatives are under attack. Contact ABC News at 818-460-7477, CBS News at 212-975-3247 and NBC News at 212-664-6192 and hold them accountable for propagandizing on behalf of the Biden administration.
