Tom Steyer did not let ABC’s ThisWeek Host Martha Raddatz get away with pushing the Donald Trump narrative on the economy using a poll. It is clear that the mainstream media is intent on serving their ultimate masters in maintaining some sort of status quo. Anyone that attempting to bring change to the country’s plutocrats’ modus operandi are maligned.
Tom Steyer calls out ThisWeek Martha Raddatz
“Mr. Steyer, you say that you can take on Donald Trump on the economy,” Martha Raddatz said. “But the latest Quinnipiac national poll again released just this week says 70 percent of voters describe the nation’s economy as excellent or good. So how do you convince them that a change is needed when they think they’re doing so well under Donald Trump?”
Raddatz was happy to quote the Quinnipiac poll even as she misrepresented when balanced against the Pew Research Poll that suggests Americans think the economic system unfairly favors the powerful. Does that not infer they would support a change if someone would correct the problem?
“I think if you take a look at what he says, everything he says superficially sounds right but is actually a lie,” Tom Steyer responded. “So when he says the economy is growing, I can show that, in fact, all the money’s going to rich people. When he says unemployment is low, which is true, I can show that the wages people are getting don’t support a family. And when he says the stock market is up, these are his three big statistics, it’s largely because of the huge tax break he gave to big corporations, but it also is — doesn’t matter that much because most of the stocks, 85 percent of the stocks are held by the top 10 percent of, 10 percent of the richest Americans.”
“But I want to go back to that 70 percent number,” Martha Raddatz hammered. “You talk about the wealthy. They’re not all wealthy people. Seventy percent say the economy is good and they’re doing well.”
This where Raddatz misinformed specifically. 70% in the poll did not say they are doing well. That the economy is doing well or one is doing somewhat better than before does not mean one is doing well in the aggregate. Healthcare, long term care, education debt insecurity will always be a stressor on a large percentage of Americans.
“Well, I’m just saying to you, here we are on a show and you’re standing up for Mr. Trump’s version of the economy,” Steyer replied with the necessary rebuke of a host not providing the proper narrative to Americans. “And I’m telling you, what he’s saying is not true.”
“I’m telling you about a national poll,” Raddatz responded with anger for being appropriately called out. “I’m not standing up for anybody. I’m telling you about a national poll.”
“And what I’m saying is this, there is a different story of this economy and this country that has to be told,” Steyer replied sternly. “Mr. Trump has to be faced down about what he’s saying on the economy because he is running on the economy. That’s exactly what he’s going to say. He’s going to say, I’m great on the economy and Democrats stink. I can take him on, on that because it has to be shown that this economy actually isn’t working for the vast bulk of Americans and this president is dangerous to them in terms of money and in terms of health care and in terms of retirement. That’s not being told.”
We will all have to read between the lines and understand that many in the mainstream media are part of the problem. They either allow the plutocracy to misinform Americans or they provide the carpet bombing to soften the shores.