The crack sleuths on MSNBC were on the case Thursday afternoon and got to the bottom of the impeachment probe of President Joe Biden. No, they didn’t take the accusations of corruption seriously and they didn’t care to dig into the Biden family’s tangled web of shell companies getting payments from foreign entities. But what they did purport to discover was the motive of House Republicans in launching the investigation: to distract from President Biden’s booming economy!
Their busted revelation came during Andrea Mitchell Reports where Mitchell juxtaposed the impeachment inquiry vote with “The backdrop, of course, to all of this is inflation is easing” and “all the economic indicators are really looking strong.”
“Strong in a good way, not in a dangerously inflationary way. But the voters don't seem to be picking up on that,” she lamented to NBC chief White House correspondent Peter Alexander.
Alexander brazenly misrepresented a 2019 tweet from former President Trump, where he decried the Russia Collusion Hoax as a distraction from his booming economy, to falsely suggest it was about his first impeachment:
Just yesterday, on the economy we saw the stock market get to an all-time high, a record high. And it reminds you of something that Donald Trump posted back in 2019 on then-Twitter, now X. He said the following. He said, “You mean the stock market is hit an all-time record high today and they’re actually talking about impeachment?” Well, in fact, that is the case this time around as it relates to President Biden. The stock market is at an all-time high. Donald Trump, himself, said the stock market would plummet under Joe Biden if he became president. It is at an all-time high and House Republicans are talking about impeachment right now.
The tweet was from April and Trump’s first impeachment wasn’t until the start of the following year. Alexander also tried to rewrite history there and lie about the fact the stock market did indeed plummet after Biden was elected.
“As it relates to the economy, there are those strong signs right now. Some new indicators that consumer sentiment is getting more optimistic,” he puffed up the Biden economy.
Despite delivering that positive outlook that average Americans really weren’t feeling, Alexander did share the White House’s fear that the impeachment inquiry would be what damaged the economy. “[Aides are] warning about the potential for this to have a real impact on the economy going forward. The economy, as you noted, that is seeing some real strong signs right now. The potential for a government shutdown increasing as the days pass,” he parroted.
“But again, Andrea, to be clear, the White House does face some real challenges on this issue to try to better convince Americans that Joe Biden deserves credit for the economy the way it is right now,” he griped. “Still, Americans in many parts of the country [are] frustrated by rent being high and the price of food still being too high.”
“But obviously, as we heard from the Fed, inflation going in the right direction and likely to be as many as three more cuts, according to Chairman Powell, next year,” he hyped up the coming election year.
The transcript is below. Click "expand" to read:
MSNBC’s Andrea Mitchell Reports
December 14, 2023
12:05:31 p.m. Eastern(…)
ANDREA MITCHELL: The backdrop, of course, to all of this is inflation is easing, according to the Fed chair, Jerome Powell, all the economic indicators are really looking strong. Strong in a good way, not in a dangerously inflationary way. But the voters don't seem to be picking up on that.
PETER ALEXANDER: Yeah Andrea. You make a couple good points in that question. Let me get to the first, which is specifically the President's reaction to that impeachment inquiry. The White House posting a statement from President Biden late yesterday where he described this as a baseless political stunt.
We’ll put it up there that you can read along. He wrote, “Instead of doing anything to help make Americans' lives better, they” – the Republicans – “are focused on attacking me with lies instead of doing their job on the urgent work that needs to be done. They are choosing to waste time on this” - again – “baseless political stunt that even Republicans in Congress admit is not supported by facts.”
The President being very critical of those Republicans right now, saying instead of focusing on issues like Ukraine, Israel, and border security, he said Republicans in Congress won't act to help. Repeating that multiple times in his statement.
And the White House, having spoken to aides to the President earlier today, they are warning about the potential for this to have a real impact on the economy going forward. The economy, as you noted, that is seeing some real strong signs right now. The potential for a government shutdown increasing as the days pass. Early January, obviously, is going to be do-or-die time as it relates to the potential for a shutdown.
Just yesterday, on the economy we saw the stock market get to an all-time high, a record high. And it reminds you of something that Donald Trump posted back in 2019 on then-Twitter, now X. He said the following. He said, “You mean the stock market is hit an all-time record high today and they’re actually talking about impeachment?” Well, in fact, that is the case this time around as it relates to President Biden. The stock market is at an all-time high. Donald Trump, himself, said the stock market would plummet under Joe Biden if he became president. It is at an all-time high and House Republicans are talking about impeachment right now.
As it relates to the economy, there are those strong signs right now. Some new indicators that consumer sentiment is getting more optimistic. But again, Andrea, to be clear, the White House does face some real challenges on this issue to try to better convince Americans that Joe Biden deserves credit for the economy the way it is right now.
Still, Americans in many parts of the country frustrated by rent being high and the price of food still being too high. But obviously, as we heard from the Fed, inflation going in the right direction and likely to be as many as three more cuts, according to Chairman Powell, next year.
(…)
