CNN panel brutally mocks Biden for attempting to change definition of recession: 'You can't fake this!'



Not even a CNN panel is buying what the Biden administration is trying to sell on the possibility of a recession.

What is the background?

Beginning last week, the Biden administration has repeatedly claimed the definition of a recession — generally defined as two consecutive quarters of negative GDP growth — is not actually the definition of a recession.

On Monday, Fox News correspondent Peter Doocy asked President Joe Biden how worried Americans should be over the possibility of a recession. Biden's response jettisoned objectivity altogether.

"We’re not going to be in a recession, in my view," Biden said.

What happened?

On CNN's "The Lead," a panel of commentators knocked the Biden administration for doing pre-emptive damage control ahead of a potentially negative economic report.

"The Biden administration is trying to point out the definition of a recession is nuanced. But I got to tell you, I struggle with this. I get why they want to do it from a political perspective, but you can't fake this!" host Kasie Hunt exclaimed.

CNN editor at large Chris Cillizza then mocked what Biden told Doocy.

"I was laughing to myself with the 'in my view' thing. Like in my view, I should be drafted to the NBA," Cillizza mocked.

"It doesn't really matter what you think," he continued. "There is a technical definition, two straight quarters of negative economic growth. They clearly believe that is likely to come to pass later this week. They're trying to prebut it."

Cillizza agreed that everyone understands why the Biden administration would want to change the definition of a recession, but condemned them for doing so.

"We have these terms for a reason. You don't have to like it. Of course, they don't like it because the economy — you know, Joe Biden's handling of the economy was 25% or 30% in our most recent poll. It's a problem for them; this adds to the problem," Cillizza explained. "But you don't get to change the nomenclature in the middle of a campaign because it doesn't work for you."

\u201cRepublican strategist: GOP Sen. Rubio fighting same-sex marriage bill just to show he\u2019s fighting for something. @ScottJenningsKY, @repdonnaedwards, @fran_chambers and @ChrisCillizza discuss. @kasie\u201d
— The Lead CNN (@The Lead CNN) 1658785645

After the U.S. economy shrank 1.6% in the first quarter of 2022, according to the Bureau of Economic Analysis, economists remain split over what the BEA's first second-quarter estimate will say. The estimate will be published on Thursday.

Economists with Bloomberg and Goldman Sachs, for example, predict meager growths of under 1%, but the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta's GDPNow is predicting another GDP contraction of 1.6%.

Horowitz: Biden calls for mask mandates in response to increased cases in states … that already have strict mandates



As thoroughly as the lie of mask efficacy has been debunked is exactly how strongly it will continue to be forced upon the citizenry.

"I need the American people to do their part as well. Mask up. Mask up. It's a patriotic duty," Joe Biden said during a rare speech yesterday in which he implored mayors and governors to reinstate mask mandates.

It's almost as if these people are living in a time warp and it is still March 30, 2020, when mask-wearing was first introduced as a desperate measure to possibly slow the spread of a virus … that we now see 12 months later it failed to stop one iota. The mask mandate has been implemented against all ADA and OSHA standards — beyond our wildest dreams — yet it failed to stop two subsequent waves of spread. However, Biden is still saying, "It's the only way we ever get back to normal," as if nobody has ever worn a mask.

Just how insane was Biden's call to reinstate mask mandates in reaction to some data showing cases increasing in some states? Every state with an increase in cases has had an ironclad mandate for almost a year, while all the states that got rid of the mandate at the beginning of the month are either flat or going down.

Once again, we can count on Rational Ground's Ian Miller, the master of the mask charts, to expose the truth.

I’m legitimately unsure if Biden’s aware of what’s going on at this point, but let’s look at what’s happened in wha… https://t.co/EHpuCUmhNq
— IM (@IM)1617048437.0

As it turns out, the three lead states in the resurgence of cases are none other than New York, New Jersey, and Michigan. It is truly hard to find a place in these states where one can go indoors without a mask. Tether that to the federal mandate that began in early February, several weeks after cases were already going down, and you are left with the mystery of how cases went back up again long after the mandates were in place. Well, it's the same way they spiked in the fall long after those same state mandates were fully complied with.

Texas and Mississippi are the only states to have had mandates, but then, in early March, categorically removed them, even locally. The morgues are filling up, right?

Nope. Here is Texas compared to New Jersey:

Thought I’d check in on hospitalizations in New Jersey & Texas, considering the Governor of New Jersey said he was… https://t.co/g5uFEVRz3G
— IM (@IM)1616962073.0

Cases are down 41% since Texas Gov. Greg Abbott lifted the mandates:

The new hospitalization numbers are out, so let’s look at Texas 25 days after CNN’s @ChrisCillizza said ending mask… https://t.co/PrcuhIrb7d
— IM (@IM)1616960579.0

So, what is the truth of the matter? As we've observed for a full year, it's all geographical and seasonal. Every climate region seems to have the exact same curve. Take Mississippi and Alabama, for example. Cases are going down in both states, and they have identical curves. But if anything, Mississippi, which terminated its mandate, is experiencing a sharper decline than Alabama, which still has a statewide mandate.

Nearly 4 weeks ago, Mississippi removed all county level mask mandates, while Alabama didn’t remove its statewide m… https://t.co/ktJ5gnJEmr
— IM (@IM)1617060493.0

Now compare that to Michigan in the northern part of the country:

Can you imagine the endless media outrage and hysterical, panicked, “Neanderthal” comments from Biden, Walensky, Fa… https://t.co/Qh5UfGUYtc
— IM (@IM)1617068219.0

Clearly, some areas still have not reached herd immunity. In some of the northern states, they will still get a natural seasonal spread in the cold weeks of the early spring.

The greatest example, of course, is the Czech Republic. In the summer, the country was touted as the global success story presumed to be the direct result of strict adherence to the mask cult. Well, that was until God had a different plan. Now, the Czechs are worse off than almost every other Western country, including the United States:

@edschminke @foogatwo @ifihadastick I believe seasonality does drive respiratory illness patterns. I don’t know t… https://t.co/qZeyA6ypMI
— Hold2 (@Hold2)1617063180.0

Then, of course, there is Florida, which has counties that are masked and counties without mandates. There is almost a perfect reverse correlation between cases per 100,000 and mask mandate counties:

@GGoodie52 @bazzardhigh @MonicaGandhi9 We have this piece of evidence. https://t.co/1aqGcbCQfq
— Hold2 (@Hold2)1616867993.0

The Philippines has the highest level of mask compliance in the world (the president threatened to shoot violators of quarantine), yet it certainly has failed to stop the spread there.

Back in July, The NY Times said the Philippines had the highest mask usage rate in the world. Compliance has remain… https://t.co/Q7gnIe35RU
— IM (@IM)1617045033.0

None of this should surprise people who have studied this issue. Every randomized clinical trial that has studied mask-wearing as source control for respiratory viruses demonstrated the masks' lack of efficacy, a fact OSHA promoted for years.

Thread: 45+ Mask StudiesThe medical literature for the past forty-five years has been consistent: masks are usele… https://t.co/EPbi8tXHBs
— FineTuned Photography🇨🇦 (@FineTuned Photography🇨🇦)1613665973.0

Yet masks are so magical that they can "work" in the states that don't have the mandates while failing in the states where they are actually implemented.

Last week, I exposed the fact that the FDA only approved mask-wearing as an emergency medical device under the experimental Emergency Use Authorization (EUA). One of the conditions for such use, besides being optional and not mandatory, is that the "the known and potential benefits of the product, when used to diagnose, prevent, or treat such disease or condition, outweigh the known and potential risks of the product" (21 U.S.C. §360bbb–3(c)(2)(B)). Also, they are only approved if "there is no adequate, approved, and available alternative to the product for diagnosing, preventing, or treating such disease or condition" (ibid. – 3(c)(3)).

Well, 12 months later, we now know that there are zero benefits to wearing the masks and there are numerous early and prophylactic therapeutics that can easily treat the virus. Furthermore, the World Health Organization wrote a list of potential harms from mask-wearing in its June 2020 guidance that clearly outweigh the nonexistent benefits.

Image source: WHO screenshot

The mask experiment is over, and it has failed. Now it's time to follow the science — and human rights.