Joe Biden may want to throw Donald Trump in jail for the next 750 years, but even in that unlikely event, Joe Biden still has to run against his own record.
Call it Joe Biden vs. Joe Biden and Joe Biden is going to lose. A new Monmouth poll out today shows only 34% approve of President Biden’s handling of inflation, despite his trying to sell Bidenomics on the campaign trail.
By the way, that poll also shows only 3 in 10 Americans feel the country is doing a better job recovering economically than the rest of the world since the pandemic. A Reuters poll has Biden at 33% approval for the overall economy and at 28% for inflation. Not good, Joe.
The other day, President Biden was out pushing an alleged improvement in real wages, and, yes, in the month of June, inflation-adjusted wages might rise for the first time in 26 months. This is better, Joe, but, but, but, but — when President Biden tweeted that real wages for the average American worker “is” higher than it was before the pandemic (can’t even get the grammar right…), no less an authority than Twitter’s Community Notes came down on his head.
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Get this “the tweet’s claim about real wages contains a factual error.” I’ll bet it does! Then the Twitter Community Notes starts pounding away with factoids. Get this: “On 3/15/20, when U.S. COVID lockdowns began, real wages adjusted for inflation (AFI) were $11.15. As of 7/16/23 real wages AFI are $11.05. Real wages AFI remain lower (not higher) than before the pandemic.”
That is an absolute bombshell, the wrath of Twitter. No more censorship, Joe. So, we consulted with the Bureau of Labor Statistics, and, it turns out, since January 2021 (the length of Mr. Biden’s administration)average weekly earnings adjusted for inflation, a.k.a. real wages, are down nearly 5% for the whole period.
Joe Biden also likes to make the case that inflation has been conquered and while it is true that the 12-month change has slowed to 3% on the CPI and 4.8% on the core CPI, but actually for the length of Joe’s presidency, which is 26 months, the level of the CPI has increased by 16%.
Grocery prices by 19.6%. Energy prices by 33.1%. Gasoline prices by 42.7%. Used car prices by 34.5%. Air tickets by 41.6%, just to name a few categories. This is why people doubt the veracity of the president’s assertions.
Then, of course, his most famous gaffe is that he cut the budget deficit by $1.7 trillion, which the Washington Post rated “highly misleading,” and later called it a “Bottomless Pinocchio.” In fact, just this Fiscal Year 2023 alone, the U.S. budget deficit is now projected to rise by $2.25 trillion. Hard to square with Mr. Biden’s fiscal bragging.
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What’s more, our pal Liz Peek points out that the Biden brag of 800,000 new manufacturing jobs doesn’t wash, because as of June, the U.S. had just under 13 million employed in manufacturing, virtually identical to the pre-pandemic number of 12.9 million.
Finally, the Heritage Foundation recently estimated that the average American household has lost the equivalent of $7,400 in annual income since Mr. Biden’s inauguration. So, even if Joe Biden locks up Donald Trump for 1,000 years, when Joe Biden runs against Joe Biden’s record, Joe Biden is going to lose because that election is going to be about pocketbooks, kitchen tables, and it’s the economy, stupid. Oh and by the way, the Trump lock-up scenario is just as unlikely as Bidenomics.
This article is adapted from Larry Kudlow’s opening commentary on the July 19, 2023, edition of “Kudlow.”