NEWS AND OPINION:
ANALYSIS
Since President Trump took office, the economy is booming, according to such reliable sources as federal agencies, analysts and data from the private sector.
That may not be good enough for the press, however.
The news media is seeking to “rewrite history” to credit former President Barack Obama for this feat, says one major business publication.
“The stronger the economy gets under Trump, the more desperate his critics are to hand credit over to Obama. Even if that entails changing the past,” says an Investor’s Business Daily editorial. “A recent New York Times story says it all: ’An economic upturn begun under Obama is now Trump’s to tout’.”
Things were not always thus.
SPECIAL COVERAGE: Best of 2020: Top stories and columns from The Washington Times
“We seem to recall that the economy was stagnating in 2016 after the weakest recovery from a recession since the Great Depression,” the IBD editorial noted. “In fact, The New York Times itself described Obama’s economy this way in August 2016: ’For three quarters in a row, the growth rate of the economy has hovered around a mere 1 percent,” the IBD editorial recalled. “In the last quarter of 2015 and the first quarter of 2016, the economy expanded at feeble annual rates of 0.9 percent and 0.8 percent, respectively.”
The editorial also cited similar coverage at CBS News.
“Now that the economy is outperforming everyone’s expectations, Trump’s critics want to pretend that the current boom was already baked in the cake,” the editorial said. “Now, after Trump’s deregulation and tax cuts are starting to take effect, we’re seeing still more signs of stronger growth. Polls show that the public gives Trump credit for what’s going on today. They, not the mainstream press, have it right.”
• Jennifer Harper can be reached at jharper@washingtontimes.com.
Please read our comment policy before commenting.