Fox Anchor Confronts Kudlow on Booming GDP Numbers Under Biden: ‘This is Not as Bad as You Have Been Saying It Is’

Fox News’ Sandra Smith was shocked when Larry Kudlow conceded that the GDP numbers from the 2023 fourth quarter have defied his doomsday predictions about Bidenomics.

As Fox News airs recurring, overwhelmingly-negative commentary about the state of the economy, the Bureau of Economic Analysis released findings on Thursday that the GDP grew by 3.3 percent at the end of the year, which contradicts recent fears of an oncoming recession.

Kudlow was among those who’ve been predicting a recession was imminent, but when the Fox Business host and former Trump adviser joined Smith to talk about this, she began by asking what he makes of those touting Bidenomics in light of these new numbers.

“I’m not sure how he gets there,” Kudlow said. “I’ll have to check that for the whole period. Look, it was a good quarter, don’t get me wrong, 3.3 percent beat estimates. And the last quarter was a good quarter, 4.9 percent. Absolutely. So he gets his due. If I were he, I would be out slinging that hash, too. No problem.”

I wanna just say one thing. When you look under the hood, though, the same story we have seen again and again. The single biggest category was government spending, okay? Just this quarter, consumer spending 2.8 percent at an annual rate, all right. Government spending, 3.3 percent at annual rate. And in the last quarter, consumer spending was 3.1, government spending, 5.8.

Kudlow continued to attribute the numbers to government spending, saying, “I don’t want to be accused of denying his numbers. But I’m saying if you put it in perspective, it really is — a big chunk of it is government spending.”

As Smith noted how this politically bodes well for President Joe Biden, she asked Kudlow, “What do you say to folks who say ‘Wait a second. This is not as bad as you have been saying it is?'”

“I would say, probably I would agree,” Kudlow answered.

“Whoa! That’s a headline!” reacted an astonished Smith.

Kudlow proceeded to bring up the lingering effects of inflation and the economic downturns around 2022. He did so to argue that Biden’s economic numbers have improved, but won’t improve his polling because the lower and middle classes still feel crunched on affordability.

“You have to ask yourself how long can we keep the inflation lid on,” he said.

Watch above via Fox News.