It would appear that President Joe Biden and his White House team are preparing to blame the nation’s dour outlook on the economy, the state of the union, and the ability to get anything done in Washington, D.C. on the “psychological impact” that COVID-19 had on the United States of America. In recent days, Biden himself as well as his advisors have hinted that the reason Americans — in the White House’s mind anyway — do not appreciate economic strides and other policies is because COVID-19 and subsequent death has put such a damper on their outlook in life. In other words, you’d have to be mentally ill to not understand Biden’s greatness, they argue.
In an interview that aired this past Saturday, the host of “No Lie With Brian Tyler Cohen” asked Biden what he would say to Democratic voters who may not vote in the midterms because they see that their party has control of the three branches of government, but don’t feel that anything is getting accomplished.
“Well, two things. One, I think the biggest impact on the psychology of the country has been COVID. Almost a million Americans have died of COVID and so I think it’s hard for people to get their arms around the fact that we have the fastest growing economy in 40 years, wages are actually up — not down, unemployment is the lowest it’s been….You know it’s just incredibly low, and it’s around the the in the three-point range,” he claimed.
“We find ourselves in a position where it’s hard to fully appreciate that when you wake up in the morning and wondering whether or not your uncle, aunt, mother, father, son, daughter who has COVID are going to be okay,” Biden claimed.
“As Vivek Murthy, the Surgeon General, points out, I think one of the significant things we are going to find ten years from now is a phenomenal negative psychological impact that COVID has had on the public psyche,” he added.
“And so you have an awful lot of people who are, notwithstanding the fact that things have gotten so much better for them economically, that they are thinking, but how do you get up in the morning feeling happy – happy that everything is alright?” Biden added. “Even though your job is better, even though you have more income.”
A portion of those comments can be seen here:
Biden claims he's made things better but people are “psychologically” unable to "feel happy." pic.twitter.com/AxgSGBvgZa
— RNC Research (@RNCResearch) February 26, 2022
Biden’s comments are riddled with distortions, as The Daily Wire has previously reported. Biden boasts of a strong economy with rising wages, but in terms of purchasing power Americans have suffered greatly. In January, The Daily Wire reported that because of record setting inflation, most Americans essentially have less money in their pocket:
As inflation in the United States reaches record highs, investors are losing confidence in the dollar.
On Wednesday, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that in December consumer prices rose by 7% over the previous year — the highest rate in roughly 40 years. Likewise, “real average hourly earnings” — which consider the effect of inflation — decreased by 2.4% from December 2020 to December 2021, starkly cutting the purchasing power of American consumers.
The Daily Wire also reported that Biden’s economic policies did not add a single job in 2021 compared to before the number of jobs available before the pandemic. As for unemployment rate, Biden fails to mention that nine out of the top 10 states in 2021 were run by Republican governors — not Democrats like the questioner asked about.
Still, despite those facts, White House advisor blamed COVID-19, as well as the Ukrainian war, on the nation’s “bad mood.”
“Well, when COVID is beating you to death — literally — and you’re having an international incident like we’re having, and it run costs up, it can make everybody pretty angry, and put you in a bad mood, not to withstanding that this president has done a spectacular job in the last year shepherding the country,” Landrieu claimed.
WATCH: Asked about Biden’s low approval rating, Biden Advisor Mitch Landrieu admits Americans are in “a bad mood” pic.twitter.com/sKdmEwuOim
— RNC Research (@RNCResearch) March 1, 2022
Then, the president’s White House released an announcement that Biden will address the nation’s “mental health” problem during Tuesday night’s State of the Union. That announcement read in part:
“Our country faces an unprecedented mental health crisis among people of all ages. Two out of five adults report symptoms of anxiety or depression. And, Black and Brown communities are disproportionately undertreated – even as their burden of mental illness has continued to rise. Even before the pandemic, rates of depression and anxiety were inching higher. But the grief, trauma, and physical isolation of the last two years have driven Americans to a breaking point.”
Could Biden’s comments be based off that report? It certainly seems so.
Yet while there might be a mental health issue exacerbated by government lockdowns, school closures, social isolation, and more, Biden doesn’t appear to take the blame for those policies which were often advocated by Democratic politicians and supported by the Left.
When looking at the facts about the true state of the economy, it doesn’t stand to reason that the “psychological impact” of COVID-19 prevents people from appreciating the economy. It turns out, there may just little to be thankful for under Biden. What is there economically speaking seems to be present in GOP states in spite of Biden and the Democrats — not because of their policies like the president and his advisor claim.
The views expressed in this piece are the author’s own and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.