Michael Whatley, the current chair of the Republican National Committee, appeared on Fox News late last week to summarize what he sees as the foundational question of the 2024 presidential race:
The RNC chief obviously had some grammatical trouble toward the end of the quote, but putting that aside, Whatley peddled a familiar refrain. Republicans are heavily invested in the idea that President Joe Biden will lose for the simple reason that the country was better off four years ago.
Indeed, Whatley can’t think of “a single metric” that’s moved in the right direction when comparing 2020 and 2024.
Of course, if the RNC chair is genuinely interested in the underlying question, there’s all kinds of evidence for him to consider. The New York Times’ Paul Krugman explained in a recent column that the Reagan-era “Are you better off than you were four years ago?” question is “almost ludicrously favorable to President Biden.”
Krugman’s list, of course, was just a sampling. As we’ve discussed, there are plenty of other related data points: The nation’s uninsured rate improved under Biden. The supply-chain challenges improved under Biden. The cost of many prescription drugs improved under Biden. Infrastructure investments improved under Biden. The budget deficit improved under Biden. The U.S. murder rate improved under Biden.
The United States’ global standing improved dramatically after Biden replaced Trump in the White House.
Whatley would have Americans believe there’s “not a single metric” that’s improved over the last four years. If we’re overly literal about it, I suppose there’s a kernel of truth in that assessment — because there are a great many metrics that show how much better off the United States is as compared to four years ago.
This article was originally published on MSNBC.com
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