Consumer prices jumped hotter-than-expected, and leftist media outlets were predictably fumbling over themselves trying to spin the bad news in any which way they could to protect the floundering Biden economy.
The latest Bureau of Labor Statistics inflation report showed that consumer prices spiked 3.1 percent year-over year, with a 0.3 percent increase month-over-month, both exceeding expectations. CBS News even conceded the new hot numbers “complicat[ed]” the Federal Reserve’s decision to cut interest rates. The outlet also noted that higher prices “remain sticky.” The Dow Jones Industrial Average also tumbled over 400 points following the news.
But that didn’t stop outlets like CNN from trying to flip the script as if their readers were too stupid to see right through the manufactured haze. “Good news for Americans: Inflation cooled back down in January,” read CNN’s twisted headline. CNN’s ridiculous tweet of its story was just as bad: “US inflation cooled down in January, offering some relief for Americans who have suffered through the steepest price hikes in four decades.” Saying “Inflation cooled less than expected” is a completely backward way of describing a hot inflation report. [Emphasis added.]
CNN and others in the media who followed this logic should know that too much spin makes people dizzy. CNN must have realized the stupidity of its original headline for its story, because it was stealth-edited later.
Arguing that hotter-than-expected inflation simultaneously means prices “cool[ed]” is the epitome of an oxymoron, but don’t expect Biden’s media lackeys to be logically consistent. As MRC Business Vice President Dan Schneider concluded in a statement: “‘Hell is not as hot as we thought it was going to be.’ That’s the typical response we get from Biden’s fawning media. They just can’t help themselves. They stopped being journalists a long time ago.”
US inflation cooled down in January, offering some relief for Americans who have suffered through the steepest price hikes in four decades https://t.co/stXY7HZUSW
— CNN Breaking News (@cnnbrk) February 13, 2024
ABC News tried to have its cake and eat it too in its headline on the new numbers. “Inflation fell markedly in January but still higher than expected, latest data shows.” At least one of the outlet’s affiliated publications seems to have also gotten its orders from the mothership. ABC News affiliate KOMO News’ reporting in its headline fell along similar lines: “Inflation remains stubborn, falling slower than expected.” [Emphasis added.]
The New York Times, to its credit, was straight forward in its headline: “January Inflation Report: Prices Are More Stubborn Than Expected.” However, the outlet quickly did a 180-degree turnaround and tried to spin the story using the same absurd logic employed by CNN in its lede paragraph: “Inflation cooled less than expected in January and showed worrying staying power after stripping out volatile food and fuel costs — a reminder that bringing price increases under control remains a bumpy process.” [Emphasis added.]
Here's the CPI🧵 on today's dumpster fire of a report - hint: inflation isn't dead, you're $6,800 poorer b/c of it, and it's poised to get much worse next year... pic.twitter.com/uZsmKfpqK2
— E.J. Antoni, Ph.D. (@RealEJAntoni) February 13, 2024
The Times’s competitor, The Washington Post, tried a different strategy. First, the outlet embedded the spin in its headline: “Inflation eased in January, but not as much as expected.” Secondly, the outlet decided to bury the straightforward news in its sub-headline, giving a completely different picture than what was implied in the headline: “[Inflation] came in slightly hotter than analysts expected, causing the markets to flash red. The Fed is contemplating when to cut interest rates.” [Emphasis added.]
The Associated Press also took a shot at putting lipstick on the Bidenomics pig, emphasizing the ludicrousness of making the hot inflation report anything more than the bad news that it was: “US inflation slows but remains elevated in sign that price pressures are easing only gradually.” Of course, nowhere in its report did the AP concede that the numbers were hotter than expected. “Consumer inflation in the United States cooled last month yet remained elevated in the latest sign that the pandemic-fueled price surge is only gradually and fitfully coming under control,” read AP’s gaslighting. [Emphasis added.]
Not to be outdone, NBC News was adamant in its clownish headline that “[p]rice growth continued to cool in January, but not as much as hoped for.” The outlet attempted to sugarcoat the numbers by giving the false impression that consumers are just fine with the higher prices in its sub-headline: “Still, consumers appear to be adjusting to a new normal of higher prices, including for fast food and other goods and services.” Good grief.
Yahoo! Finance took it a step further and utilized the CNN logic to infect how it reported on the stock market tumbling after the bad BLS numbers were released: “Stock market today: US stocks fall after inflation cools less than anticipated.” Yeah sure, the reason stocks dipped was because inflation cooled, not because it was “hot,” right Yahoo! Finance?
Make it stop.
Conservatives are under attack. Contact CNN at 404-827-1500, ABC News at (818) 460-7477, The New York Times at 800-698-4637, NBC News at (212) 664-6192, The Associated Press at 212-621-1500 and Yahoo! News at (408) 349-3300 and hold them to account for trying to gaslight the American people on the bad inflation numbers.
