The U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis published the third-quarter gross domestic products (GDP) numbers on Thursday morning. These numbers showed that the United States’ economy grew by 2.6 percent in the quarter. The positive news was hyped by the evening news networks and ignored the true reason for the economic growth, despite the negative quarters. The third quarter numbers were almost entirely due U.S. trade exports and not the overall health of the economy.
ABC’s World News Tonight anchor David Muir started carrying water for the Biden administration. He spun the seemingly good numbers by saying, “President Biden in Syracuse New York, celebrating today’s new numbers on the economy.”
Muir hyped the numbers and reported that “the gross domestic products, which is a measure of goods or services produced, increased by 2.6 percent in the last quarter.” Terry Moran, Muir’s correspondent, was interviewed later in the segment. He said that these were “encouraging GDP numbers today.”
During this time, Norah O’Donnell, CBS Evening News anchor, did her part to spin the story for the Biden administration.
In recent months, the U.S. economy has shown some improvement. It has now recovered from two consecutive quarters of decline, growing at an annual rate 2.6 percent between July and September. There are still troubling signs. For the first time in over 20 years, the average interest rate on a 30-year fixed mortgage is now at 7 percent.
NBC Nightly News was the closest to acknowledging the reality when Kelly O’Donnell, White House correspondent, mentioned trade exports as a reason for the positive GDP figures. She falsely attributed the positive numbers to consumer spending and a strong labor market.
“A surprise rebound. The U.S. economy grew from July through September. The nation’s gross national product posted 2.6 percent growth in September after shrinking during the first half.” O’Donnell was wooed, before claiming that it was “fueled by consumer spending, exports and a strong employment market.”
In reality, Jacqui Heinrich, Fox News Channel’s Special Report, told viewers the truth about America’s economy. Heinrich stated that the GDP Report today suggested that the U.S. Economy was turning around after two quarters of negative growth. “But a closer inspection shows that the 2.6 percent increase was driven by fluctuations of international trade, which does not reflect the underlying health and increased government spending.
Verizon on ABC, Fidelity and Prevagen on NBC made Thursday’s GDP report spin-off possible. Their information is linked.
Click “expand” to see the transcript for each segment.
FNC’s Special report
10/27/2022
6:01:15 Eastern
JACQUI HEINRICH : Good evening, Bret. The President is in Syracuse to promote his administration’s investment into U.S. manufacturing, and to praise today’s economic report. The data is not as it appears on the surface.
PRESIDENT JOE BIDDEN: A great economic report today. The GDP report. Things look good.
HEINRICH – The GDP Report today suggests that the U.S. economy is regaining its strength after two quarters of declining growth. However, a closer examination shows that the 2.6 percent increase in GDP was not due to increased government spending or fluctuations in international trade. Economists predict that both will decline in the fourth quarter. Consumer spending is also slowing as inflation rises faster than wages. Moody’s chief economist has a different perspective than the president.
MARK ZANDI (MOODY’S ANALYTICS CHIEF ECONOMIST),: GDP has gone virtually nowhere in the past year. It’s down a little bit in the past quarter or two. It’s slightly up this quarter. However, net-net is a little bit of a stumbling block.
ABC’s World News Tonight
10/27/2022
6:40:24 p.m. Eastern
DAVID MUIR (English): Tonight, we’ll be turning our attention to the economy. President Biden celebrates the new economic numbers today in Syracuse, New York. Unexpectedly good news about GDP. The gross domestic product is a measure of the amount of goods and services that were produced. It rose by 2.6 percent in the last quarter. The President stated that the deficit has been reduced by $1.4 trillion for this year. The President of the United States, Micron, visited Syracuse to highlight the promise to invest up to $100 Billion to build semiconductor facilities in central New York. This will create jobs and make those chips in America.
[…]
6:41:11 p.m. Eastern
MUIR: Terry, Americans are still struggling with inflation, but these were encouraging GDP figures today. With 12 days to go before the midterms, the president is trying to convince voters to keep the course. He points to these GDP numbers and says that this is the right policy. However, it’s difficult to make this case.
CBS Evening News
10/27/2022
6:36:43 PM Eastern
NORAH O’DONNELL: The U.S. economic recovery has been modest in recent months. It has now recovered from two consecutive quarters of decline, growing at an annual rate 2.6 percent between July and September. There are still troubling signs. For the first time in over 20 years, the average interest rate on a 30-year fixed mortgage is now at 7 percent.
NBC Nightly News
10/27/2022
Eastern, 7:03:08 p.m.
KELLY O’DONNELL: A surprise rebound. The U.S. economy grew from July through September. After shrinking in the first six months of this year, the nation’s gross domestic products grew by 2.6 percent. This growth was fueled by strong job markets, exports, consumer spending and exports. The president of Syracuse, New York, asked voters to reject a Republican takeover.
