February 3, 2024 at 4:45 p.m
As much as they may hate it, several Fox News hosts and a former economic adviser to Donald Trump have all had to admit a single truth: Four years into the COVID-19 pandemic, the economy is doing well under President Joe Biden. As Larry Kudlow said on Fox Business, “I was wrong about the downturn and the recession.”
On Friday's “The Last Word,” MSNBC's Ali Velshi opened with a clip of a conversation between Maria Bartiromo and Trump in which the former president attributed recent economic growth to people who “believe I'll be elected.”
“You know that doesn't make any sense, right?” Velshi said. “That the stock market would rally in February because Donald Trump could be elected in November and take office in almost a year.”
Velshi then played a series of clips from Fox News hosts all grappling with economic realities. In one case, a host notes that “people are spending more” and “the [economic] The RNC messaging was way off base.” In another case, the question is asked, “Is America having the best recovery?” The answer: “Well.”
To illustrate this point and add some fun, Velshi interviewed Jared Bernstein, a former economic policy adviser to then-Vice President Biden. After being introduced, Bernstein joked, “First of all, I want to say that it's possible that the stock market is up because they knew I was coming on your show tonight.”
“We've heard a lot of, you know, honest assessments of what a very strong economy is,” he continued, “and I give a lot of credit to people who recognize that. I think it becomes a little difficult not to see it when unemployment is below 4% for two years in a row. We haven’t seen a development like this since the 1960s.”
Velshi broke down what's happening for most Americans right now. He pointed out that at one point inflation exceeded wages, but the dynamic has reversed. This, together with the creation of new jobs and low employment, has made many people feel safer.
“You get a call from pollsters or interviewers at the University of Michigan, and the consumer confidence numbers show confidence, and then people have to talk about it,” Velshi said.
“People talk to each other about it,” he continued, “and they talk about it on Fox News, and then people realize they've been duped a little bit.” In fact, there was some fear of a recession a year ago, and this was widespread. They weren't weird conservative talking points. But now people understand that the talking points don’t match the reality of the economy.”
Watch the entire interview in the video above.
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