Over the weekend, the White House started laying the groundwork for redefining “recession.”
- How does the Biden WH deal with a recession? Simple! Change the word’s definition
- Ron Klain’s Trump-era take on recessions doesn’t quite match up with the Biden admin’s current definition
- Karine Jean-Pierre confirms the US is NOT in a recession or even anywhere near one
- Biden economic adviser Brian Deese brought out to change the definition of ‘recession’ for the press
- Peter Doocy asks Karine Jean-Pierre about Biden economist’s previous definition of ‘recession’ (EPIC dodging ensues)
This is actually the hardest they’ve worked in a very long time. It’s almost impressive.
But they’ve still got their work cut out for them. It’s going to take some extra elbow grease to get Americans to just completely forget everything they’d been taught about what constitutes a recession. Fortunately, they have help from the media. And from social media, too. Economic and political historian Phil Magness recently got a glaring reminder about that when he tried to post on Facebook about the White House’s verbal and intellectual gymnastics surrounding the definition of “recession”:
We live in an Orwellian hell-scape. Facebook is now "fact checking" anyone who questions the White House's word-games about the definition of a recession. pic.twitter.com/pHGPWrxRpD
— Phil Magness (@PhilWMagness) July 28, 2022
Facebook is clamping down on fake news that isn’t actually fake news. And citing PolitiFact to do it, no less!
A White House blog post is accurate about the official definition of what a recession is. The definition wasn't cooked up to protect President Joe Biden. https://t.co/RXlJqARmSc
— PolitiFact (@PolitiFact) July 27, 2022
A White House blog post is accurate about the official definition of what a recession is. The definition wasn't cooked up to protect President Joe Biden. https://t.co/QCIQk9XSDR
— PolitiFact (@PolitiFact) July 28, 2022
If you’re the sort of person who doesn’t like being gaslit and dares to point out that the White House is trying to gaslight us on “recession,” expect to hear from PolitiFact and Facebook about it:
The White House blog post in question — which said the two-quarter metric is not the “official definition” and that the official ruling is made based on a variety of factors, including but not limited to change in GDP — is in accord with what the NBER has long said. And it’s not a sudden change.
This was PolitiFact’s official ruling on the matter:
Instagram posts said, “The White House is now trying to protect Joe Biden by changing the definition of the word recession.”
It’s certainly to the White House’s political advantage to get ahead of potentially bad economic news, and there are plenty of indications that the U.S. economy faces significant challenges, including the possibility of an eventual recession.
But the White House blog post cited is not only accurate about the official definition, but evidence shows it’s not a definition the White House suddenly cooked up as cover.
We rate the statement False.
And, as Magness is careful to point out, PolitiFact (and Facebook) didn’t seem to have the same enthusiasm for fact-checking the definition of “recession” back when Joe Biden was throwing the word around:
Meanwhile, remember that time when Joe Biden declared that we were in a recession in October 2020 without any NBER determination?
Funny how they don't fact-check that one.https://t.co/X55NPvl5Pq
— Phil Magness (@PhilWMagness) July 28, 2022
Or the time Biden declared we were in a recession in September 2020? No fact-check there either. pic.twitter.com/a4covaK6dO
— Phil Magness (@PhilWMagness) July 28, 2022
It’s almost as if fact-checking is subjective — which is exactly what it’s not supposed to be.
For what it’s worth, it does seem like PolitiFact and Facebook are at least consistent in coming after conservatives who draw attention to Democrats behaving badly. Club For Growth senior analyst Andrew Follett was also smacked on Facebook for a post about the White House’s shenanigans:
So Facebook recently "fact-checked" "false-information" I shared…BECAUSE I LINKED TO THE WHITE HOUSE STATEMENT about how it was changing the definition of "recession." pic.twitter.com/UhyplVoPPx
— Andrew Follett (@AndrewCFollett) July 28, 2022
It did this on the basis of PoltiFact's "Fact Check."
Hilariously, PoltiFact bases this "Fact Check" on…the Facebook's own "Fact Check."https://t.co/TKDpvOfFEG
Its a literal circle. pic.twitter.com/m4DvOPygpB
— Andrew Follett (@AndrewCFollett) July 28, 2022
And round and round we go.
Phil, the PolitiFact fact check cited the Facebook fact check…which cited the PolitiFact fact check…in a perfect circle.https://t.co/FnQvVVg1HY
— Andrew Follett (@AndrewCFollett) July 28, 2022
It never ends.
WaPo and NYT also live in this kind of feedback loop, their 'trusted authoritative sources' almost exclusively each other.
— Taller Than You (@Simonstrosity) July 28, 2022
We know they are lying. They know that we know they are lying. We know that they know that we know they are lying. And yet they still keep lying. https://t.co/zi6KDK8LEc
— Not Dorsey (@dorsey_not) July 28, 2022
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