As Elections Approach, Biden Spins His Economic Record

In recent months, President Biden and his administration have said that America has the fastest-growing economy in the world, that his student debt forgiveness program passed Congress by a vote or two, and that social security benefits became more generous thanks to his leadership.

That was not correct.

The president has overstated his influence on the economy or omitted important facts. Mr. Biden gave retirees a raise during his speech.

For the first time in a decade, senior citizens are getting an increase in their Social Security checks. The problem is that the cost-of-living increase was triggered by the most rapid inflation in four decades. Mr. Biden didn't do anything to make retirees' checks bigger, it was just a result of the president's vow to combat inflation.

The gap between what America owes and what it earns has been brought down by Mr. Biden.

He said last week that the deficit is falling this year. The largest cut in American history on the deficit was achieved.

The president's economic aid package, which was not renewed, was one of the reasons why the deficit was so high. Mr. Biden claimed that he didn't pass another round of emergency assistance.

Strong economic growth that was supported by Mr. Biden's economic policies helped to reduce the deficit, according to the White House.

Presidents often use economic numbers to improve their pitch. Like many of his predecessors, Mr. Biden has emphasized economic indicators that are favorable to his record, including a low unemployment rate and the record pace of job growth in his first two years in office.

With the upcoming elections that will determine the fate of the rest of Mr. Biden's legislative agenda, the president's cheerleading has grown to include exaggerated statements about the economy and his policy record.

The White House has had to awkwardly correct Mr. Biden. Sometimes they have doubled down on them.

The senior administration officials denied that Mr. Biden or his administration had ever tried to deceive the public about the economy. His record does not need to be overstated, they said.

A White House spokesman said that the president's economic agenda has given the country an economy with historic job creation, faster declines in unemployment than before, and private sector investments in new industries. We have acknowledged and corrected honest mistakes when we have mis spoken.

Mr. Biden exaggerates his economic situation less than President Trump did. The former president claimed that he did not lose the 2020 election and that the Capitol was not attacked by his supporters. Mr. Trump said his tax cut package paid for itself when it didn't, and that he relied on economic growth projections to balance his budget.

The types of "leaps of logic" that were common during election seasons were what Mr. Biden's recent contentions appeared to be. The president claimed to have reduced the deficit and oversaw an increase in Social Security payments.

This isn't like making things up. It's making a rather stretched and peculiar causality argument.

He said that Mr. Biden had no comparison to the false statements Mr. Trump made about America being the highest taxed nation in the world.

You had complete factual errors with President Trump.

If Republicans take control of Congress, they will look to scale back social safety net programs, shut down the government and weaponize America's need, according to Mr. Biden's pitch.

As the United States has struggled to contain inflation, the Biden administration has sometimes cherry- picked the most favorable data points or left out important context. Graphics do not tell the whole story in some instances.

A White House chart late last year showed a decline in gas prices. The rows of bars decreased in price by 10 cents.

Biden administration officials tend to focus on different measures as they try to find silver linings in monthly reports on inflation.

Cecilia Rouse, the chair of the White House's Council of Economic Advisers, appeared to misstate the figures in an interview with CNN last month when she was pressed about why "core" inflation was at its highest level in 40 years.

It was actually flat if you looked month on month.

The monthly rate had gone up by a significant amount. The administration said that Ms. Rouse meant to say that core inflation was not zero.

The International Monetary Fund reported in July that several countries in Europe and Asia were growing faster than the United States. The United States would grow at a slower than expected 2.3 percent in 2022, according to the fund. The administration said that Mr. Biden was talking about the pace of America's recovery from the Pandemic compared to other countries.

At a forum in October, the president made a statement that the student debt relief program had passed Congress. The reality was that the initiative was being challenged in the courts and that it was rolled out through executive action. Student debt relief was not included in the Inflation Reduction Act, according to a White House official.

When Mr. Biden said in September that gas prices were below $2 a gallon in 41 states, they were actually $1 higher. The transcript of his speech was changed by the White House.

The Social Security mistake has been seen as the biggest mistake.

Democrats and Republicans were confused by the suggestion by Mr. Biden that the increase in the Social Security cost of living adjustment was a sign of economic health.

The Republicans on the House Ways and Means Committee said in a statement that the White House can only be blamed for the need to increase Social Security payments.

The White House deleted the account.

The message was removed by the White House because it lacked important information about other ways older Americans could save money.

She said that the account was not complete. We usually post a message with context, but it didn't have that.