What Recession? Ruhle Declares ‘We Are in An Economic Recovery’

While the White House is rewriting the definition of a recession, MSNBC’s Stephanie Ruhle used the Monday edition of The 11th Hour took the spin one step further and argued that the economy is actually on the upswing.

During an interview with Director of the Economic Council Brian Deese, Ruhle shamed people for not appreciating a decline in gas prices, “Gas prices are definitely going down. You’re right about that. Here’s the tricky thing, really, for the White House: people were certainly complaining when they were going up. You’re not hearing that many people complimenting it, or thrilled or talking at the kitchen table about the good news, about gas prices going down.”

Most people understand that just because gas prices are no longer at historic highs, does not mean success has been achieved, but Ruhle isn’t one of them. Continuing, she argued the White House’s challenge is merely one related to messaging, because things are actually going quite well, “So, you have the challenge of getting the American people positive about the economy. It’s very psychological. How we feel about the economy impacts how we behave. How do you change the way people think, because we are in an economic recovery?” 

Based on what? For Ruhle, Republican presidents get no credit for good economies and Democratic presidents get no blame for bad ones.

For his part, Deese gave a more politically correct answer, claiming it wasn’t his job to tell people that the way they feel is wrong, but did take a shot at the media, “But I do think that you are right. Some of this is about the way things are covered. There was a lot more coverage than we’ve actually seen him doing scans of media analysis, a lot more coverage when gas prices are going up then when they’re going down.”

Are we talking about the same media?

This segment was sponsored by Cadillac.

Here is a transcript for the July 25 show:

MSNBC The 11th Hour with Stephanie Ruhle

7/25/2022

11:40 PM ET

STEPHANIE RUHLE: Gas prices are definitely going down. You’re right about that. Here’s the tricky thing, really, for the White House: people were certainly complaining when they were going up. You’re not hearing that many people complimenting it, or thrilled or talking at the kitchen table about the good news, about gas prices going down. 

So, you have the challenge of getting the American people positive about the economy. It’s very psychological. How we feel about the economy impacts how we behave. How do you change the way people think, because we are in an economic recovery? 

BRIAN DEESE: Well, look, the way people feel is the way people feel and it’s their lived reality, and certainly, our—our– goal is not to try to change or convince people otherwise. But I do think that you are right. Some of this is about the way things are covered. There was a lot more coverage than we’ve actually seen him doing scans of media analysis, a lot more coverage when gas prices are going up then when they’re going down. So, some of the things we’re trying to do is make very clear to the American people, when those things happen, that they can benefit from them, and that they have an impact in their lives. The president spoke about that issue on Friday, and he will speak more about that this week. And we’ll keep—we’ll keep– at that.