Stephen Colbert absolutely destroyed CNN and MSNBC as he played a montage of the networks spinning for President Joe Biden’s administration about the United States being in a recession.
During the “Late Show with Stephen Colbert” Thursday, the late-night host stated the definition of a recession in his monologue as he mocked those on the networks who seemed unable to state the facts about the current state of the economy, comparing them to walking into a cave blindfolded. It starts at the 5:44 minute mark here.
“So, we’re in a recession. Or are we?” Colbert told the audience. “According to the White House, two consecutive quarters of economic contraction does not, in and of itself, constitute a recession.”
“Thankfully, we have cable news to cut through all the spin and give us some straight answers,” he added, before he directed a question to a clip of a CNN reporter, asking them about the U.S. having “back-to-back quarters of negative growth. What does that mean historically?”
WATCH:
The TV host played the clip of a CNN reporter talking about how “every single time since 1948 that you’ve had back-to-back quarters of negative growth, you’ve had a recession, every time.”
“So, that’s the case this time,” Colbert replied.
“That may not necessarily be the case this time,” the clip of the reporter said.
“Okay. Still, recession-wise, we should be able to use history as a guide, right, MSNBC?” the host asked to a clip of the other network.
He showed video of the Financial Times editor-at-large saying, “We really don’t know how far we can or cannot use history as a guide,” Mediaite.com noted.
“Sure,” the host responded. “But at the bare minimum, on the GDP next quarter, up or down?”
The host then showed video of another CNN contributor saying, “This is a number that could turn positive, it could turn more negative.”
“Okay. Last question: do you need any qualifications at all to go on TV and talk about the economy?” Colbert continued, before playing video of from MSNBC of someone being interviewed responding “it’s really impossible to tell.”
The audience cracked up throughout the entire segment.
“So, all of you all are just taking stabs in the dark like you wandered blindfolded into a cave,” Colbert said. “Thank you cable news.”