Republicans were eager to attack President Joe Biden on the economy during last year's midterms, but the outlook has changed dramatically since then. The newest figures show inflation plummeting to 3 percent on an annual basis, barely above Federal Reserve targets, all while the economy continues to add huge amounts of new jobs, raising the possibility the U.S. could avoid a recession while trying to bring prices back under control.
Jonah Goldberg, conservative pundit and editor-in-chief of The Dispatch, told CNN that if this economic climate persists, it could be great news for Biden in 2024 — and a huge problem for the GOP.
"Let me just ask you, Jonah, you just heard the candidates pounding Biden on inflation," said anchor Erin Burnett. "But obviously today's numbers tell a completely different story. If you've got inflation down at 3 percent and wages are outpacing inflation. I understand it's one month, but if this continues, this really takes a lot of the wind, a lot of the air out of the Republican balloon, doesn't it?"
"It could," said Goldberg, who has become a sharp critic of the GOP's Trump wing. "Look, you're absolutely right. If the trend line continues in this direction, it's — look, it's really good news for Biden. The news today is very good news for Biden. It'd be very good news for the country if this trend line continues on path like that." However, he cautioned, "We've seen surveys, the University of Michigan had a survey out saying Americans are more down on the economy than any time in the last 70 years. There is lots of other polling that says that attitudes about the economy are getting worse, even as the economy's getting better."
Above all, Goldberg warned, "inflation has a long lag time for changing people's actual attitudes on the ground."
The upshot, he said, is that "if this thing continues like this, it would be fantastic. But there's just a lot that can happen between now and then. And it would obviously take away the talking point for Republicans."
Jonah Goldberg says Biden economy could be bad news for GOPwww.youtube.com
