Dana Bash welcomed former Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi on to Thursday's edition of CNN’s Inside Politics to discuss a variety of topics including why voters do not give President Joe Biden credit for the economy, which Bash insisted “continues to do well.”
“I want to just say and we’ve been saying this on this show every time we see new numbers; the economy continues to do well in many respects. The stock market is up, gas prices are down, the inflation rate is at the lowest it's been in three years.”
Conspicuously absent from that list was wages, but Bash continued as she recalled that “You joined me on State of the Union back in July, I asked why the American people weren’t giving President Biden the credit that maybe he thinks he should have on the economy and you said a lot of it is about messaging and you added that Biden has to get out there. It is now six months later. The administration is still struggling on this issue. Why?”
For her part, Pelosi responded by declaring that this time things will be different, “Well, I think it's time to get out there. We’ve had our holidays. The campaigns are beginning now; this is when people will pay attention.”
After launching into a typical Democratic stump speech, Pelosi did offer up one interesting thought, “Let's talk about that. Let's not talk about what happened last July. Let's talk about what's happening now as we go forward.”
Pelosi wants the media to forget all about her and her fellow Democrats’ predictions that the economy would be doing so well that voters would change their minds and credit Biden for it. That hasn’t happened and it hasn’t been because the media hasn’t trying.
Here is a transcript for the January 4 show:
CNN Inside Politics with Dana Bash
1/4/2024
12:35 PM ET
DANA BASH: I want to just say and we’ve been saying this on this show every time we see new numbers; the economy continues to do well in many respects.
NANCY PELOSI: Yes.
BASH: The stock market is up, gas prices are down, the inflation rate is at the lowest it's been in three years. You joined me on State of the Union back in July, I asked why the American people weren’t giving President Biden the credit that maybe he thinks he should have on the economy and you said a lot of it is about messaging and you added that Biden has to get out there. It is now six months later.
PELOSI: That’s right.
BASH: The administration is still struggling on this issue. Why?
PELOSI: Well, I think it's time to get out there. We’ve had our holidays. The campaigns are beginning now, this is when people will pay attention and I think that the president, again, I always said to members, people don’t vote for you because you deserve it, but what you have done gives you the legitimacy people to say this is what I will do and the president has said we have more work to be done and let’s have a debate who’s there for the American people, to save the Affordable Care Act, to save the pensions that Joe Biden enabled to happen. When people go talking to Trump, labor guys talking to Trump, they have to remember he refused to pass the pension bill, to support the pension bill. So, again, the elections have ramifications. Let's talk about that. Let's not talk about what happened last July. Let's talk about what's happening now as we go forward.
