President Joe Biden recently touted his economic policies, known as “Bidenomics” on Twitter. However, the president’s message about the real wages of American workers being higher “than before the pandemic” was quickly challenged by Twitter fact-checkers.
According to Twitter’s Community Notes, “The tweet’s claim about real wages contains a factual error. On 3/15/20 when US COVID lockdowns began real wages adjusted for inflation (AFI) were $11.15. As of 7/16/23 real wages AFI are $11.05. Real wages AFI remain lower (not higher) than before the pandemic.”
The Republican Party responded,"Since Biden took office, real wages are down 3%."
Folks it’s no accident.
It’s Bidenomics in action. pic.twitter.com/tVMwJ0B2qR
— President Biden (@POTUS) July 10, 2023
Biden’s claims come amid his campaign for re-election in 2024 and part of a series of speeches and campaign receptions where he discussed “Bidenomics” and its alleged impacts. As it turns out, economists and voters remain unconvinced that Biden’s policies are beneficial.
EJ Antani, a research fellow for the Heritage Foundation’s Grover M. Hermann Center for the Federal Budget told Fox News Digital, “Bidenomics has been defined by 40-year-high inflation, record drops in labor productivity, anemic economic growth, growing credit card debt, rising interest rates, insipid labor force participation, onerous regulation, falling real incomes, and runaway government spending, borrowing, and printing of money. Distilled down to a single word, Bidenomics means ‘failure.’”
Desmond Lachman, a senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute added, “They [Biden’s administration] spend like drunken sailors — that is what’s causing problems. It’s easy to get unemployment down for a short period of time, but it’s difficult for a long period of time. The way they got it down so much is by overstimulating the economy, but now they have inflation.”
A Fox News poll from May found nine in 10 voters remain worried about inflation and the future of the economy.
When compared to the 2017 polls, Republicans have become more concerned about the future of the country. In 2017, 74% of Republicans said they were worried and that figure has risen to 96% in 2021. Democrats, on the other hand, have also registered concern but only to a lesser degree— falling from 91% to 83%.
At the same time, Biden’s approval rating on the economy is just 32%.
When Biden took office in January 2021, the inflation rate was at a little over 1%. By June 2022, this figure had risen to 9% before declining to 3%. While that figure is still higher than the Federal Reserve’s desired 2%, it is still lower than the 9% figure from earlier this year.
Overall, while President Joe Biden’s economic policies continue to tout its alleged positive impacts, economists and voters remain unconvinced. Despite some slight reduction in the figures, notably in inflation, real wages remain lower than before the pandemic for many American workers. Common worries about the economy’s future also remain. As for Biden, re-election looks set to be an uphill battle.
Right now, real wages for the average American worker is higher than it was before the pandemic, with lower wage workers seeing the largest gains.
That's Bidenomics.
— President Biden (@POTUS) July 16, 2023
