Zachary Pleat

1 week ago | mediamatters.org | Zachary Pleat

Fox News and Fox Business personalities gushed over the April jobs report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, which beat expectations by showing an increase of 177,000 jobs last month while the unemployment rate remained unchanged at 4.2 percent. However, the jobs estimates for both February and March were revised down by a total of 58,000 jobs, and economists explained that the April report does not yet reflect the economic damage of President Donald Trump’s tariff policies.

2 weeks ago | mediamatters.org | Zachary Pleat

The American economy contracted at an annual rate of 0.3% during the first quarter of 2025, after growing at a rate of 2.4% during the fourth quarter of 2024 under former President Joe Biden, and the Trump administration is desperately spinning blame for the contraction on its predecessor. President Donald Trump's supporters in the media quickly followed suit, decrying the supposed “hangover from the Biden administration” for economic contraction on Trump's watch.

2 weeks ago | nationalmemo.com | Zachary Pleat

During a March 12 appearance on Fox, National Economic Council Director Kevin Hassett rosily predicted strong growth for the American economy in the first quarter of 2025 and dismissed consumer confidence surveys fears of a looming recession. Hassett boldly stated: “I'll give you an expectation that GDP growth is going to be 2-2.5% in the first quarter, at least,” even as the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta’s GDPNow estimate at the time predicted a contraction.

2 weeks ago | mediamatters.org | Zachary Pleat

During a March 12 appearance on Fox, National Economic Council Director Kevin Hassett rosily predicted strong growth for the American economy in the first quarter of 2025 and dismissed consumer confidence surveys  fears of a looming recession. Hassett boldly stated: “I'll give you an expectation that GDP growth is going to be 2-2.5% in the first quarter, at least,” even as the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta’s GDPNow estimate at the time predicted a contraction.

2 weeks ago | mediamatters.org | Zachary Pleat

MAGA media figures quickly joined in with White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt’s attack on Amazon amid initial reporting that the online retailer would display tariff price increases for customers on its website. Some encouraged using alternatives to Amazon, some celebrated a dip in its stock price, and others complained that the retailer didn’t similarly flag price changes caused by the COVID-19 pandemic-related surge in the inflation rate.