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Journalists Giving Biden ‘A Tongue Bath’: Huckabee Blasts Biden’s Jobs Report Over ‘Dismal’ Numbers

   DailyWire.com
US President Joe Biden speaks about the December jobs report on January 7, 2022, from the State Dining Room of the White House in Washington, DC.
MANDEL NGAN/AFP via Getty Images

Former Arkansas Republican Governor and presidential candidate Mike Huckabee blasted President Joe Biden on social media Friday over his jobs report, claiming mainstream journalists are giving Biden “a tongue bath” and refuse to ask tough questions about the economy.

Huckabee’s words followed Biden bragging about the nation’s economic success, despite a Friday report that jobs in December increased by 199,000 instead of the expected nearly 420,000.

“Jobs numbers today were dismal-half of expected. I’m watching Biden brag about how great he’s doing w/ the economy & jobs. Is he really this out of it? Will the press get off their butts, act like journalists & start asking questions instead of giving him a tongue bath?” Huckabee said.

“Job growth averaged 537,000 per month in 2021,” according to the nation’s Bureau of Labor Statistics. In December, the number was only 199,000.

The decline is largely blamed on the surge in positive COVID-19 cases during the month.

Huckabee challenged the mainstream media to “start asking questions” instead of allowing the president’s remarks to air without noting the reality of the nation’s job market and economy.

The president’s jobs speech left viewers confused over the alternative reality Biden appeared to present. “Don’t take my word for it. Just look at the results. Historical results. Results for working Americans,” he said.

According to RNC Research, December’s job report “is the WORST of Biden’s presidency so far, missing expectations by more than half.”

The former governor also addressed Biden’s “fumble-tonguing” through a COVID-19 address that referred to the current year as 2020.

“Biden taking heat for fumble-tonguing through a COVID address, then ending it by saying, ‘There is a lot of reason to be hopeful in 2020,’” Huckabee said.

The Daily Wire previously reported that more than 3.1 million Americans have lost jobs due to business closures or lost business as highlighted in a “CNBC Investing Club with Jim Cramer” report on Friday morning:

“The new year is off to a rocky start,” wrote Nick Bunker, economic research director at job placement site Indeed told CNBC. “These less than stellar numbers were recorded before the omicron variant started to spread significantly in the United States. Hopefully the current wave of the pandemic will lead to limited labor market damage. The labor market is still recovering, but a more sustainable comeback is only possible in a post-pandemic environment.”

Rising inflation was another issue cited in the report.

“Average hourly earnings rose more than expected as the U.S. sees its fastest inflation pace in nearly 40 years. Wages climbed 0.6% for the month and were up 4.7% year over year. That compares with respective estimates of 0.4% and 4.2%,” CNBC said.

Related to the lower than expected job numbers in December was the growing number of vaccine mandates and COVID-19 restrictions in American workplaces. Some companies reinstated mask mandates in December in response to the surge in cases related to the Omicron variant, a factor that may have lowered customer traffic and impacted jobs.

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