It doesn’t matter which direction the news goes on the Iran War. Pompous media conglomerates like ABC News will take any positive economic development and twist it into a cudgel to smack President Trump ahead of the midterms.
ABC News just couldn’t bring itself to fully admit that the Bureau of Labor Statistics report showing consumer prices cooling in July to 3.4 percent from June’s 3.5 percent figure was just straight good news, especially in light of all the war inflation doom porn being circulated around like a virus in the media ecosphere.
Ironically, ABC News correspondent Elizabeth Schulze tried to spin the whole thing into a negative during the August 12 edition of ABC News Live: “When you kind of dig into the details here, there are still a big impact from high oil prices showing up with the price of gas which is up more than 20 percent over the past year.” She continued, “You see it trickling into air fares also up more than 20 percent. You do see those kinds of ripple effects of higher oil prices — transportation prices.” No silver linings. Just dark clouds.
.@ABC throwing cold water on the cool July inflation report is the most ironic thing I've seen all day. pic.twitter.com/GylPrx9pAA
— Joe Vazquez (@JV3MRC) August 12, 2026
The title for the segment was reflective of the spin: “Inflation eases but stays above pre-Iran war level.” To put a fine point on ABC’s political take, MetLife Investment Management economist Tani Fukui told The Wall Street Journal following the BLS data drop, “I’ve spent the morning trying to poke holes in this beautiful number, and I’ve mostly failed.” Apparently ABC’s beat reporter succeeded (not really). Just prior to the report’s release, The New York Times published a story emphasizing, “Energy Prices Expected to Fall in Latest Inflation Data.”
Energy prices did in fact end up retreating -1.5 percent on a month-to-month basis, a continuation of the June trend when energy prices dipped -5.7 percent. Merrill and Bank of America Private Bank Chief Investment Officer Chris Hyzy told The Times that oil prices “didn’t stay at those [high] levels long enough for it to kind of seep into successive months after months after months.”
But according to Schulze’s twist, okay it’s not “seep[ing]” but it’s “trickling!” You wouldn’t even know that energy prices retreated at all last month watching ABC's coverage. Instead, you’re treated to the warning that “[Inflation] is still above where the Federal Reserve and overall households want inflation to be.”
Even the media’s favorite lefty doom monger, Moody’s Analytics chief economist Mark Zandi, told CNBC, “I thought it was a very benign report, right down the strike zone … still high but moving in the right direction.”
Go kick rocks, ABC.
