“Tomorrow, we’re expecting another dismal jobs report, on top of the half a million jobs that were lost last month, on top of the half a million jobs that were lost the month before that, on top of the 2.6 million jobs that were lost last year” – Former President Barack Obama during the House Democratic Caucus Issues Conference on February 5, 2009
President Trump teased the outstanding job numbers before they were made public, potentially impacting insider trading. The mainstream media predictably went berserk, claiming that Trump “broke with tradition” and challenged anyone to find any other President who would dare to do such a thing. Of course, Obama repeatedly teased DISMAL job numbers before they were made public. Instead of touting the outstanding job numbers, which reflected a “net increase of 223,000 jobs reflected healthy gains in a broad range of industries, from manufacturing and transportation to health care and retailing,” the mainstream media focused on a tweet.
Once again, the mainstream media shows that their rabid hatred of President Trump endures despite all facts.
The Huffington Post reported, in an article professionally titled “Trump Leaked Sensitive Info From The May Jobs Report, And That’s A Big Effing Problem” that President Trump “scored cheap political points this morning by undermining trust in the U.S. economy.” The Fake News outlet cited Justin Wolfers, a professor of economics and public policy at the University of Michigan and an adviser to the Congressional Budget Office, who “said the president’s disclosure is unprecedented both in the U.S. and among his counterparts in other developed countries.”
In an article posted at the Washington Post, titled “Trump breaks with decades of protocol with tweet before release of jobs report,” authors Damian Paletta and Ashley Parker lamented that President Trump “shattered several decades of protocol — and possibly violated a federal directive — by hinting strongly that the monthly U.S. jobs report would be a rosy one 69 minutes before its release.”
President Trump broke with a series of norms and traditions this week, including tweeting about the jobs report before the data went public. https://t.co/y0opZV8GwD
— MSNBC (@MSNBC) June 2, 2018
Could Ari Melber, host of MSNBC’s The Beat, be any more condescending?
The New York Times posted an article titled, “Trump Touts Jobs Report Before Official Release, Breaking Protocol” where authors Jim Tankersley and Matt Phillips breathlessly reported that “legal experts said the tweet raised possible insider trading concerns and economists said it was a blatant misuse of presidential power.” Buried in the NYT article was:
“The Republican National Committee responded to the criticism of Mr. Trump on Friday afternoon by flagging an evening speech by President Barack Obama on Feb. 5, 2009, the night before the first jobs report release of Mr. Obama’s presidency.”
And then they just kept bashing President Trump:
Trump hinted at a strong jobs report ahead of its release — here’s why that’s a problem https://t.co/tuRLjSmx5K pic.twitter.com/b8bTDVg2MG
— CNNMoney (@CNNMoney) June 2, 2018
Pres. Trump’s tweet previewing the May jobs report raised alarm bells among some economists and former government employees over whether he may have violated longstanding government protocol. https://t.co/05riHcIP1u pic.twitter.com/ewcNNoDwYQ
— ABC News Politics (@ABCPolitics) June 2, 2018
Trump appears to have broken federal law with tweet teasing jobs report https://t.co/ZZ5RjkaV6G pic.twitter.com/IKlLs6va4N
— ThinkProgress (@thinkprogress) June 2, 2018
Last night, Trump was likely given the #JobsReport numbers which are considered classified until release. (https://t.co/QhbxMfA8Ex )
7:21 AM: Trump tweets about the jobs report before they are public.@Austan_Goolsbee says this could be illegal.#FridayFeeling pic.twitter.com/UIlkIKS57m
— Holly Figueroa O’Reilly 🌊 BWCS (@AynRandPaulRyan) June 1, 2018
Shocked business experts and former officials say at best, Trump’s jobs report tweet broke norms and at worst, it may have broken federal law https://t.co/zZo83nky9x pic.twitter.com/Ms3PJItvPo
— Talking Points Memo (@TPM) June 1, 2018
With his tweet previewing the jobs report this month, President Trump tipped off traders and may have violated a major 1985 law. https://t.co/TAk1Zk3w6S
— Axios (@axios) June 2, 2018
President Trump tweeted about today’s jobs report before it was announced — despite federal rules aimed at keeping jobs reports secret. https://t.co/Y3nkixsMuU pic.twitter.com/WUMP9ewpI9
— CNN (@CNN) June 1, 2018
At bare minimum, just by mentioning the jobs report, Trump seems to have violated an obscure federal rule from 1985: https://t.co/zvT6rY1Xxc pic.twitter.com/7MsAAdwc8w
— Jim Tankersley (@jimtankersley) June 1, 2018
Trump’s tweet teasing jobs report appears to have violated federal law
Sarah Sanders confirmed he was briefed in advance https://t.co/j0v1Kbnxkp
— Judd Legum (@JuddLegum) June 1, 2018
Trump Leaked Sensitive Info From The May Jobs Report, And That’s A Big Effing Problem
Trump scored cheap political points Friday morning by undermining trust in the U.S. economy. https://t.co/4lhM2XQDsP
— Jon Cooper 🌊 (@joncoopertweets) June 2, 2018
This is the first time a president had ever sent a signal to investors about what the jobs numbers might look like an hour before they came out. https://t.co/M8PaXsHnhg
— Damian Paletta (@damianpaletta) June 1, 2018
On February 5, 2009, Obama had this to say during the House Democratic Caucus Issues Conference (archived):
“Last week, we learned that many of America’s largest corporations already laid off thousands and are planning to lay off tens of thousands of more workers. Today, we learned that in the previous week, the number of new unemployment claims jumped to 626,000. Tomorrow, we’re expecting another dismal jobs report, on top of the half a million jobs that were lost last month, on top of the half a million jobs that were lost the month before that, on top of the 2.6 million jobs that were lost last year.
For you, these aren’t just statistics. This is not a game. This is not a contest for who’s in power and who’s up and who’s down. These are your constituents. These are families you know and you care about. I believe that it is important for us to set aside some of the gamesmanship in this town and get something done.”
Watch:
And that was not the only time Obama teased a dismal jobs report:
A day before the Jan 2009 jobs report was released in Feb 2009, Obama said “tomorrow we are expecting another dismal jobs report” which is more specific to what Trump said. cc @LHSummers pic.twitter.com/sy0odNy8iM
— Yossi Gestetner (@YossiGestetner) June 1, 2018
The GOP put together a video showing the mainstream media hypocrisy.
Watch:
Presumably, the mainstream media is either A.) stupid/lazy or B.) complicit.
President Trump should not be teasing good job numbers as it will impact the markets, but the point is that the media ignored Obama’s repeated warnings about dismal numbers before the job numbers were officially released.
This author suspects that the real anger at Trump is less about his tweet and more about the fact that the jobs numbers are so spectacular.
At 3.8%, the unemployment rate has fallen to its lowest point since April 2000. And hasn’t been lower since 1969. HISTORIC! The Trump administration will keep fighting to create even more jobs for the American people! https://t.co/jcP63968cD
— Vice President Mike Pence (@VP) June 1, 2018
If obama did it repeatedly why was almost 50% of the nation on welfare?
Thank you – that was a poor title – I fixed it. Obama did it with BAD jobs numbers.