Fox Business senior correspondent Charles Gasparino, called out President Donald Trump this week, writing on Twitter, “when was the last time [Donald Trump] said something that wasn’t filled with utter bull shit?”
Gasparino’s tweet referenced Trump’s false statement that gross domestic product (GDP) growth is now higher than the unemployment rate for the first time in “over 100 years.”
another amusing aspect: when was the last time donald said something that wasnt filled with utter bull shit? https://t.co/84Ek50Sr2F
— Charles Gasparino (@CGasparino) September 11, 2018
“The GDP Rate (4.2%) is higher than the Unemployment Rate (3.9%) for the first time in over 100 years!” Trump inaccurately tweeted Monday. Economic data show this event last occurred in early 2006.
Kevin Hassett, the chairman of the White House Council of Economic Advisers, said Monday during a White House briefing — the mistake was likely the result of false information passed along to the president.
“The history of thought of how errors happen is not something that, you know, I can engage in,” Hassett said.
“What is true is that it’s the highest in 10 years, and at some point somebody probably conveyed it to [Mr. Trump] adding a zero to that, and they shouldn’t have done that.”
.@WhiteHouseCEA Chairman Kevin Hassett discusses the state of recent economic trends and the impact of President @realDonaldTrump‘s policies. pic.twitter.com/QF0ANvEpSI
— Fox News (@FoxNews) September 10, 2018
Trump’s fake news GDP tweet was too obvious for Fox to overlook. Shortly after Trump’s tweet, the company’s research desk tweeted out a list of the recent quarters when GDP has been higher than the unemployment.
Since 1948, there have been 63 quarters with a GDP growth rate higher than avg quarterly unemployment rate
Recent Quarters with GDP Growth higher than Unemployment Rate:
•Q2 2018
•Q1 2006
•Q3 2003
•Q2 2000
•Q4 1999
•Q3 1999
•Q4 1998
•Q3 1998
•Q3 1997
•Q2 1997
•Q2 1996 https://t.co/xc873PMf6K— Fox News Research (@FoxNewsResearch) September 10, 2018
As for President Trump’s continued hype of the economy, using phrases like “greatest ever” and or “best jobs market ever,” at some point — the next downturn will strike.
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According to a new Morgan Stanley research note, their US equity strategists forecast “peak EPS growth is now behind us” and it is likely the economy could get weaker into the first half of 2019.
