Four Big Lies from the SOTU on the Economy, COVID, Deficit, and Guns

Biden delivered his second address “State of the Union” Address Tuesday night, Congress. There were many bipartisan moments, and some points of discussion that were not controversial. 

However, as with any State of the Union it contained misleading claims and outright lies meant to push a political narrative.

Here are 4 misleading claims from Biden’s speech.

• Job creation & unemployment 

“As I stand here tonight, we have created a record 12 million new jobs – more jobs created in two years than any president has ever created in four years. The unemployment rate is at 3.5%, a near-record low. Jobs are coming back… pride is coming back, because of choices we made the last several years.”

First, he wasn’t speaking to Congress or President Biden. Many of them came from private sectors, and many were jobs returning to the state we were in before the pandemic. We now have. 29 months laterJust about all of the jobs created before the pandemic were reclaimed. The president takes credit for creating millions upon millions of jobs, which in reality are just returning to the pre-pandemic state.

And yes, the unemployment rate is very low, but it’s similar to what it was right before the pandemic. The labor force participation rate is still at a low level. Much lower tThe labor force participation rate is lower than before the pandemic. Millions of people remain out of work. If the labor force participation rate had risen to where it was in February 2020 2.6 Million More people would be working right now. 

Nevertheless, workers still earn real wages are down under President Biden after factoring in inflation. There are some positive economic developments, but the reality is not as rosy as Biden portrays. 

• Results & Freedom from COVID

“Two years ago, COVID had shut down our businesses, closed our schools, and robbed us of so much. Today, COVID no longer controls our lives.”

First, COVID didn’t close our businesses and schools, The government did. 

And while it’s true to some degree that “COVID no longer controls our lives,” This is it despite President Biden’s best efforts, not thanks to them. He has maintained the federal government’s COVID emergency declaration tried to keep in place both federal vaccine mandates and air travel mask mandates—with them only ending because Biden lost in court. Biden’s attempt to take credit for COVID not being controlling our lives is a bit ironic.

Oh, and don’t forget that President Biden promised He would “shut down the virus” if elected… but more Americans have died from COVID under Biden than did before he took office.

• Deficit reduction

“In the last two years, my administration has cut the deficit by more than $1.7 trillion… the largest ever reduction in American history.”

Reality check: “decrease” The deficit can only be compared to the 2020 peak of COVID-19 which was the highest ever. Biden maintained the second highest deficit in 2021. “drop” he’s taking credit for. But this drop Only Because COVID emergency spending was expired, it happened. It would have More were dropped without Biden’s policies. 

You don’t have to take my word for it. Try it! CNN… “The deficit has been bigger under the Biden administration than the nonpartisan federal Congressional Budget Office had projected it would be if the Biden-era federal government stuck with the laws that were in effect when Trump left office in early 2021.”

Or The Washington Post… “Biden is bragging about reducing budget deficits even as he increased the national debt about $500 billion more than originally projected.”

In reality, the Biden administration’s policies have added more than $4.8 trillion to the deficit over the next decade. Here’s WaPo’s List Biden policies that will increase the debt:

• Biden’s covid relief bill ($1.85 trillion added to deficits).

• Fiscal 2022 spending bill ($625 million).

• The bipartisan infrastructure bill ($370 Billion).

• Veteran’s who are exposed to toxic substances ($280 Billion): Health and disability benefits

• Boosting Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), Benefits by 21 Percent ($185 billion).

• Executive orders relating to health ($175 billion).

• CHIPS Act for expansion of semiconductor manufacturing in the United States ($80 million).

• Supporting Ukraine in its war against Russia ($55 billion)

• Repayment pauses and student loan debt relief ($750 billion).

So, Biden’s claim about reducing the deficit is, as he loves to say, malarkey. 

• Gun control & assault weapons ban

“Ban assault weapons. Ban them now! Once and for all. I led the fight to do that in 1994… in ten years that ban was law mass shootings went down. After we let it expire… mass shootings tripled.”

Here, President Biden reaffirmed his support for banning “assault weapons,” They claim that this has reduced mass shootings in the past. For context, we should point out that assault weapons are not driving murders in America—only Homicides account for 3% All types of rifles are included. What’s more, almost all experts and research agree that the 1994 ban on assault weapons did not reduce mass shootings. As I mentioned previously reported: 

“Criminologists from Northeastern University concluded that the 1994 ban had ‘virtually no effect.’ Their research isn’t an outlier. A comprehensive review of available research by the Rand Corporation found ‘no qualifying studies’ showing that banning assault weapons reduced mass shootings or violent crime. Even an analysis by the liberal outlet Vox admitted that there’s ‘not much empirical weight behind’ assault weapon bans and that ‘studies on assault weapons bans have generally ranged from inconclusive to unfavorable toward a ban.”

Conclusion

It was, overall, a typical State of the Union address. There was a lot of partisan fanfare and some surface appeals to bipartisanship. But, there was also a lot of misleading spin.

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