Friday’s jobs report from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics exceeded expectations, with 254,000 jobs added. This was far better than the Dow Jones-forecasted 150,000 jobs.
So, of course, the right had to frame it as confusing and catastrophic.
After a panel on Fox Business’ “Mornings with Maria” predicted the worst minutes before the report dropped, participants struggled to find a way to spin it—and the swift stock market surge that followed—into something to fear.
Host Maria Bartiromo was desperate for someone to agree that she would be wrong to say “good news is once again good news.” It took a few minutes to recalibrate their rage, but the panel did get there, lamenting low unemployment and increased consumer spending.
"This good news brings into question, ‘how much longer will this easing of inflationary pressures last,’" shouted guest economist John Lanski. “I think the economy is slowing,” he added later. “Until we get past the elections, I don’t think we have a clear reading regarding what businesses plan to do on spending, on staff, and capital equipment.”
Except economics is based on numbers and data, not manipulative Republican “I thinks” designed to ignore them—and the numbers and data say President Joe Biden’s plan for a post-pandemic “soft landing” continues to succeed.
At least one pundit was willing to admit the report bodes well for the country, even if he expected the worst.
"I thought there would be more red flags than at a communist parade in this report, and there's not a single one,” said MDB Capital Holdings president Lou Basenese on Fox News a bit later. “There's not one data point in here that I can point to that’s not good."
Likening Democrats to communists is uninspired, and sooo 1950’s-era McCarthy witch hunts, but at least Basenese admitted he was wrong. But as Basanese continued to share his optimism, “America’s Newsroom” host Bill Hemmer cut him off.
Meanwhile, the Trump campaign tried to dampen the good news for the Biden-Harris administration by releasing a statement shortly after, headlined “Foreign-Born Workers Thrive In Kamala's Economy. American Citizens? Not So Much.”
“825,000 native-born Americans LOST employment over the past year—while 1.2 million foreign-born workers GAINED employment,” the statement seemed to snarl.
Who is going to tell them that “foreign-born” can also mean “U.S. citizen?” Heaven forbid those who were born somewhere else and migrated to the U.S. for a better life, worked hard, and actually succeeded is a good thing?
Ohio Sen. JD Vance couldn’t resist weighing in on social media, blaming immigrants for taking American jobs. Trump’s running mate was swiftly corrected by Justin Wolfers, a professor at the University of Michigan’s Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy, who literally wrote a (text)book on economics.
The Trump-Vance campaign’s feigned ignorance and blatant, debunked lies on the economy are surging as polling indicates women are learning to trust Vice President Kamala Harris more on the economy. Wall Street also supports her, while billionaires who aren’t conspiracy theorists are opening their wallets in support of her campaign. Not to mention, economists have repeatedly blasted Trump’s economic plan for his second term, insisting high tariffs would increase inflation, not quell it.
But men are a key demographic for independent voters, and comprise a nice chunk of the small but significant pool of still-undecided voters. Even as Trump’s bread and butter voter—white men—are organizing for Harris, divorced dads and southern frat boys still overwhelmingly trust Trump on the economy, fawn over his “traditional” masculinity, and frame his bombastic and misogynistic behavior as “relatable.”
Meanwhile, at the White House …
Can most Americans see through the partisan hot air? One would hope so. It would help if fright-wing media admitted their doomsday economy talk was never about jobs numbers or economic prosperity. Instead, it was always about scoring political points and promoting propaganda—all at the expense of the American worker.
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