The final GDP figures before the 2026 midterms completely upended the marathon-running media narrative that the Trump economy was headed for the proverbial iceberg. Predictably, two major newscasts chose to leave voters in the dark just before they head to the polls.
The Bureau of Economic Analysis released new data October 29 finding that U.S. GDP growth spiked 3.4 percent in Q3 of 2026, beating expectations of a 3.1 percent increase and far surpassing the 2.2 percent clip in Q2.
FwdBonds chief economist Chris Rupkey told CNBC that on net, “economic growth is powering ahead despite the uncertainty of geopolitical risks and the damage posed to many sectors of the economy by higher energy costs.” That’s significant, especially as voters make decisions about who should control the levers of power in Washington D.C. and multiple states. But did CBS Evening News or PBS News Hour bother to mention the news during their October 29 broadcasts? Of course not!
PBS did discuss the economy in a segment on House races around the country. Anchor Geoff Bennett asked: “And on the substance of all these races, the economy is the top issue, per usual. But how and where is that playing out?” Reporter Lisa Desjardins talked about housing, tariffs, and gas prices…not GDP.
What makes their burial of a very important data point about the current state of the economy even more brazen is that ABC and NBC touched it, but only in passing. World News Tonight anchor David Muir waited until 17 minutes into the program:
On Thursday, ABC anchor David Muir gave good news about EIGHT seconds. “Tonight, the American economy. The U.S. Commerce Department says the economy grew 3.4% in the last quarter, helped by a surge in spending on artificial intelligence.” https://t.co/2tkC06H5Al
— Tim Graham (@TimJGraham) October 30, 2026
NBC Nightly News folded in a sentence and a Trump-boasting soundbite that together lasted 14 seconds, and then a Democrat candidate talked about how Washington is doing nothing about inflation.
NBC gave GDP growth 14 seconds. GARRETT HAAKE: The president touting a new report showing the economy's growth surpassing expectations, GDP rising to 3.4% last quarter. TRUMP: This is the most successful our country has ever been, by far. And you haven't seen anything yet. https://t.co/8BNEMGTvrB
— Tim Graham (@TimJGraham) October 30, 2026
The upshot is that for all the media blather about how the Iran War was going to destroy the U.S. economy and send inflation to the moon, none of it materialized. In fact, as a recent MRC Business analysis found, average inflation under President Trump averaged just 3.6 percent for the entirety of the Iran War to date, while the same period under President Joe Biden in 2022 hovered at a whopping 8.5 percent, and voters during both election years were treated to the media salivating over Bidenomics, while they later tried to pin the economy under Trump to the wall when the politics shifted.
The end goal, of course, is to sway votes according to what’s politically expedient for the media at the time. So it’s no wonder that two of the Big Three decided to spike the news, given that the doomism replete in the economic coverage didn’t really pan out.
After all, liberal TV networks have been pulling election-manipulating shenanigans like this for months.
When the BEA reported September 30 that Q2 GDP had been revised up to a robust 2.2 percent from the initial anemic 1.5 percent, the ABC, CBS and NBC evening news shows all pretended that it didn’t exist across two days of coverage. The Wall Street Journal editorial board emphasized in a September 30 editorial 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,” further undercutting Armageddon-like scenarios stemming from the conflict over the Strait of Hormuz.
Oh, but there’s more.
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 ignored the news across three days of coverage (September 15 — September 17).
The inflated hubris of the media in treating American voters like they’re too ignorant to see through their blatant omissions is truly astonishing.
