Eric Kleefeld

May 20, 2024 | mediamatters.org | Eric Kleefeld |Zachary Pleat

On May 17, the Dow Jones Industrial Average closed at a new all-time high for the first time ever, after briefly exceeding that milestone the day before. The other major American stock indexes, the Nasdaq Composite and the S&P 500, also closed trading for the week near all-time records.

May 7, 2024 | mediamatters.org | Eric Kleefeld |Zachary Pleat

The Post ran a misleading headline, “Social Security and Medicare finances look grim as overall debt piles up,” only to partially contradict itself in the sub-headline: “A hot job market means the programs won’t run out of money as fast as once feared, but projections are still bleak.” In fact, the report from the Social Security board of trustees showed a slight improvement to the program’s fiscal outlook, thanks to economic growth and low unemployment increasing the amount of tax revenue...

Apr 29, 2024 | mediamatters.org | Eric Kleefeld |Zachary Pleat

In an April 15 post on Truth Social, former president and presumptive Republican nominee Donald Trump misleadingly claimed that under Biden, “you will soon be facing colossal tax HIKES” due to the expiration of Trump’s 2017 tax cut legislation.

Apr 25, 2024 | mediamatters.org | Eric Kleefeld |Tyler Monroe

After serving as a media linchpin in late 2020 for the defeated President Donald Trump’s attempts to overthrow his loss in the election, Fox News is burying the breaking story of a new indictment against Republican conspirators who created their own slate of fake electoral votes in Arizona.

Apr 4, 2024 | mediamatters.org | Eric Kleefeld |Craig Harrington

A panel on MSNBC’s Morning Joe Thursday highlighted the role right-wing misinformation is playing in distorting perceptions about the state of the economy and the rate of inflation, which a majority of Americans incorrectly believe is headed in the wrong direction. Wall Street Journal economic reporter Greg Ip drew attention to the enormous disparity between perception and reality when it comes to consumer sentiment about the economy in an April 4 article, titled “What’s Wrong With the Economy?