If we don’t cover it, it isn’t news. That appears to be the operating philosophy for the ABC, CBS and NBC evening news networks when it comes to anything having to do with the Trump economy.
The Bureau of Economic Analysis released major revisions for GDP figures for the first and second quarter of 2026 September 30. Specifically, real GDP for the second quarter accelerated at 2.2 percent, which is much higher than the initially reported 1.5 percent, which was in line with economists’s forecasts. In addition, first quarter GDP was also revised up to 2.5 percent from 2.2 percent. Most notable was that the upward revisions were a reflection of stronger consumer spending, investment, and exports.
In laymen’s terms, the strength of the U.S. economy under President Donald Trump was vastly underestimated, not that it meant anything to ABC World News Tonight, CBS Evening News and NBC Nightly News, who completely blacked out the news across two days of coverage (September 30 — October 1).
What makes this even more egregious is that the major inflation indices the Fed relies on to make rate adjustments, the Personal Consumption Expenditures price index was also revised down from 5.3% to 5.0%. Core PCE likewise was ticked down from 3.6 percent to 3.3 percent. The “larger story,” which The Wall Street Journal editorial board emphasized in a September 30 editorial, was that “the economy as a whole looks to be on a stronger footing than during the Biden years when growth was driven by government handouts.” No wonder the Big Three didn’t want to touch this news, especially with the midterm elections looming large.
But this is not a one-off. The evening networks keep doing this anytime good news about the economy makes its way through cyberspace.
On September 15, the Census Bureau released an eye-popping report finding that the official poverty rate fell 0.5 percentage points to 10.2 percent, which is the lowest on record. In an adjacent report released the same day, the Bureau estimated that median household income in 2025 “was $87,460, an increase of 2.6 percent from the 2024 estimate of $85,210” and the “highest on record dating back to 1967.” ABC, CBS and NBC’s evening newscasts also treated this news like it didn’t exist across three days of coverage (September 15 — September 17).
Recently, the networks also spiked news that drug prices fell around 3.1 percent in July, which reflected the steepest decline since 1963. What does the pattern suggest here? All of the aforementioned stats are data points the GOP — and Trump by extension — could use to completely undercut the Democrats’ messaging on affordability ahead of the congressional and gubernatorial elections in November. ABC, CBS and NBC, which represent the longstanding leftist media firewall, are clearly not too keen on giving any news that befits the Trump brand any oxygen, especially with the prospect that the political pendulum of power will shift again come January 2027.
CNSNews Managing Editor Craig Bannister contributed to this report.
