NBC defends Biden’s redefinition of recession, claims GOP pushing 'narrative' of bad economy to hurt Dems

An NBCNews.com report from Wednesday detailed how the White House is scrambling to spin the bad economic news facing the country and convince Americans that there is not a recession, nor is there going to be.

Written by Shannon Pettypiece, the article opened with the statement that "White House officials have been increasingly trying to combat the narrative that the United States is on the brink of a recession as they look to get out ahead of grim economic data expected Thursday."

Despite Pettypiece calling the current recession fears a "narrative," economic data released Thursday revealed that the country has experienced two consecutive quarters of negative GDP – the definition of a recession.

Though the White House and mainstream media outlets have started declaring "that doesn't necessarily mean the economy is in a recession," as Fox News Digital found in a report on how the White House is "redefining recession."

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The author continued, portraying fair assertions that the country is headed into a recession as "Republican attacks" that the White House is trying to weather as it spins a rosier view of the economic situation.

"White House officials have been blanketing the airwaves over the past week, briefing reporters, putting out blog posts and urging surrogates to amplify their message as they seek to highlight areas of strength in the economy amid growing Republican attacks," she wrote. 

The piece mentioned that the White House sees current "strong job growth as hopeful sign for the economy" even though "inflation is putting pressure on consumers." A senior administration official told Pettypiece that "one of their concerns is that fears of a recession will cause consumers to pull back, creating a ‘negative self-fulfilling prophecy.’"

That same official directly contradicted the previously-accepted definition of a recession, telling NBC, "I wouldn't say it's my greatest worry, but I think it explains why we feel it's important to be going out these few days before the GDP report and make sure people understand, accurately, that even if you had a negative number tomorrow that we are not and have not been in a recession."

Though NBCNews.com admitted in the piece that two consecutive quarters of negative GDP is "one of a number of metrics that in the past have been used to signal the U.S. economy was entering a recession," the report countered with Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell’s claim: "I do not think the U.S. is currently in a recession and the reason is there are too many areas of the economy that are performing too well."

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The outlet did mention that Democrats have a political incentive to "combat" the recession "narrative." They are desperate to keep the economy from damaging their "chances of holding on to control of Congress," it said, adding that Democrats are "trying to land on a message that will break through with voters," hence their "latest pushback around a recession."

Pettypiece reported that to combat this narrative of a recession under Biden, "officials have sought to emphasize areas of the economy they believed remain strong." 

The administration has been saying the country "is transitioning to a slower growing economy, pointing to low unemployment, consumer spending that ‘remains solid,’ credit and mortgage delinquencies at low levels and household balance sheets that ‘remain largely in good shape,’" Pettypiece wrote, quoting top Biden economic adviser Brian Deese. 

Though the Wednesday piece warned that if there did end up being a second quarter of negative GDP growth, that "will likely give fodder to Republicans to try to argue the U.S. is already in a recession."

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