Fox’s Doocy Confronts Karine Jean-Pierre Over Biden Saying Economy ‘Strong as Hell’ While U.S. ‘Barreling Towards a Recession’

Fox News White House correspondent Peter Doocy pressed Biden Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre on how President Joe Biden can claim the economy is “strong as hell” while so many are forecasting a coming recession.

In the wake of a report from Bloomberg which giving a 100% chance of recession Doocy pressed Jean-Pierre on the White House’s messaging on the state of the economy.

Doocy invoked the report and reminded Jean-Pierre she said Biden has been working on the economy since he entered office.

“How is it that we can be barreling towards a recession and the economy is, as the President says, ‘strong as hell?'” he asked.

Jean-Pierre responded by saying that the job market is strong, and that usually that’s not the case before a recession, but did not contradict the predictions that there will be one anyway.

So, here’s the thing about the economy, and I’ve said this many times. You’ve heard this from Secretary Yellen, you’ve heard this from Brian Deese, who runs our economic council. Is that what we are seeing right now is the job market is strong. The labor force is strong, and that is not what we see, usually, before a recession. A lot of that is because of the work that this president has done.

Jean-Pierre added the economy is “resilient.”

Bloomberg reported Monday it is forecasting a 100% chance of an economic downturn in the coming year:

A US recession is effectively certain in the next 12 months in new Bloomberg Economics model projections, a blow to President Joe Biden’s economic messaging ahead of the November midterms.

The latest recession probability models by Bloomberg economists Anna Wong and Eliza Winger forecast a higher recession probability across all timeframes, with the 12-month estimate of a downturn by October 2023.

In spite of record high inflation, high interest rates, and high fuel prices, Biden said over the weekend he sees the economy as fundamentally sound.

While eating ice cream, Biden said, “Our economy is strong as hell.”

Although Jean-Pierre implied a recession is not a certainty, Biden hedged on the subject last week when he said if there is a recession, it will be “slight.”