Mayor Pete Buttigieg proved once again that he is Joe Biden’s best spokesperson on Fox News on Monday. Buttigieg has been a breakout star on the network during the election for his ability to calmly and precisely debunk the network’s spin with facts and a side dish of good humor.
While the economy had been Donald Trump’s strong suit before COVID-19 hit, Buttigieg pointed out he inherited one that was firing on all cylinders from the Obama administration.
“If there’s one thing Donald Trump is very good at it’s taking credit for what others have done in the economy,” Buttigieg told Jake Tapper, Sunday night on CNN.
“He inherited the Obama-Biden expansion, slowed it down, but the economy continued expanding until his disastrous handling of the pandemic ran it into the ditch it’s now in, where we still have something in the order of 20 million Americans out of work,” Buttigieg said.
Trump campaign spokesperson Tim Murtaugh shot back at Buttigieg Sunday on Fox News claiming that the Obama-Biden economy was “stagnant.” Then, President Trump took over the economy and it “skyrocketed” leading to “the biggest record growth in one quarter in American history.”
Now, this type of fact-free spin may normally fly undetected on Fox News, but not when Mayor Pete is around.
On Monday night, Buttigieg was on Fox speaking with Martha MacCallum when he corrected Murtaugh’s claims with clear, indisputable facts.
“I guess [Murtaugh] thinks we’re all stupid,” he began with a smile. “We can look this up, these are matters of simple fact: of GDP growth under Obama faster than under Trump. Look at the first three years.”
The debate began with Buttigieg claiming that Trump inherited a booming economy from Obama then, with the help of the pandemic, drove it into the ground. This is true.
According to Forbes, “Obama’s last three years in office had growth rates of at least 2.17% and as high as 3.06%.” While for “Trump the high point was 2.83% in 2018” which “fell short of Obama’s 2014 and 2015 growth rates of 3.06% and 3.05%, respectively.”
Forbes puts the argument to rest by looking at Obama’s 2019 GDP numbers. “In 2019, the adjusted growth rate was only 1.99%. This is less than Obama’s three last years in office and less than five of his last six years,” the article reads.
Trump is also constantly bragging about his job numbers. But, if you compare Obama’s last three years with his first three, Obama wins there as well.
According to a fact check by Snopes: “Employment has grown during the first three years of Trump’s presidency, but at a significantly slower rate than it did towards the end of Obama’s tenure.”
Buttigieg then put the finishing move on Murtaugh’s claim that America just experienced “the biggest record growth in one quarter in American history.”
“And if he’s trying to sell us on third-quarter GDP growth this year, if he’s trying to use the 2020 economy as an example of an economic triumph, he’s living on a different planet than the rest of us,” he told MacCallum.
“The only reason those numbers are what they are is because it’s a partial comeback from the bloodbath that was the second quarter. We’re still down, as I think anybody knows,” Buttigieg continued.
While the economy has been a strong point for Trump throughout his presidency, voters are now starting to belive that Biden is better qualified to being America back from the pandemic.
A recent survey found that “voters trust Biden more to handle economic recovery in the aftermath of the pandemic, 46-44%.”
Let’s see how that plays into tonight’s election results.
