When asked about the future of the economy during an interview with CNN’s Jake Tapper, Joe Biden conceded that the United States may enter “slight recession” in the future.
During the interview, Tapper listed off several abismal economic forecasts made by leaders of the finance industry, and pointed out that fuel costs are beginning to climb again.
“Midterm elections are four weeks from today. The economy remains top of mind for voters. JP Morgan Chase CEO said the U.S. is likely to enter a recession in the next nine months. Bank of America says U.S. could start losing 175,000 jobs a month. Gas prices are on the rise again,” Tapper explained to Biden.
“Should the American people prepare for a recession?” the CNN host asked.
“No,” Biden firmly asserted. “Look, they’ve been saying this now, how, every-every six months they say this. Every six months they look down the next six months and say what’s gonna happen. It hadn’t happened yet.”
“[Inaudible] There’s no guarantee that there gonna be reces-I don’t think there will be a recession,” Biden said. “If it is, it will be a very slight recession. That is, we’ll move down slightly. We’ll-look. Think about what’s happened. We are in a better position than any other major country in the world economically and politically.”
Biden: "I don't think there will be a recession. If there is, there will be a slight recession. That is, we'll move down slightly… We are in a better position than any other major country in the world economically." pic.twitter.com/uETNMKb20W
— Greg Price (@greg_price11) October 12, 2022
“You’ve just said that a ‘slight recession’ is possible,” Tapper noted. “It is possible. Look, it is possible. I don’t anticipate it,” Biden retorted.
The president’s concession comes despite the U.S. already having officially entered a recession in late July of this year after the first estimate of the second quarter’s GDP came in at -0.930% — two consecutive quarters of negative growth.
Just days before the GDP report came in, several Biden administration officials took to television to attempt at redefining what a “recession” really is, pivoting away from the traditional definition of the term which describes a recession as being two consecutive quarters of negative GDP growth.
Jean-Pierre: "Right now we don't see a recession … We are not in a recession right now." pic.twitter.com/P0uEvLWhZN
— The Post Millennial (@TPostMillennial) June 21, 2022
“In terms of the technical terms of the definition, it’s not a recession. The technical definition considers a much broader spectrum of uh, data points,” said White House National Economic Council Director Brian Deese on CNN.
WH economic advisor Brian Deese: Two negative quarters of growth “is not a recession”
— The Post Millennial (@TPostMillennial) July 25, 2022
“But in practical terms, what matters to the American people is whether they have a little economic breathing room, they have more job opportunities, their wages are going up. That has been Joe Biden’s focus since coming into office,” Deese said
This news and commentary by Andrew White originally appeared on Valiant News.
