Fox's Gallagher suggested Obama speech caused Dow to drop -- but Fox's own graphics show absurdity of suggestion

On The Live Desk, Trace Gallagher cherry-picked numbers from the Dow Jones industrial average to suggest that President Obama's address to the National Conference of State Legislatures had caused the Dow to drop. But according to information posted on-screen on Fox News, the Dow actually went up slightly during Obama's speech.

During the March 20 edition of Fox News' The Live Desk, co-host Trace Gallagher cherry-picked numbers from the Dow Jones industrial average to suggest that President Obama's address to the National Conference of State Legislatures had caused the Dow to drop. After Obama's speech, Gallagher said: "[H]e was talking about the economy. It's important to point out that before the president began talking -- we don't know if there's any correlation -- the Dow was up 28. The Dow, by the way, is now down 28 points." But according to information posted on-screen on Fox News, the Dow actually went up slightly during Obama's speech. When Obama took to the podium, the Dow was down 34.25 points. When he left the podium, the Dow was down 29.39 points.

When Obama took to the podium at 12:57 p.m. ET, Fox News displayed the following Dow information:

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After Obama left the podium at 1:08 p.m. ET, Fox News displayed the following Dow information:

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As Gallagher was making his comments following Obama's speech, Fox News displayed the following Dow information:

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Media Matters for America has repeatedly documented Fox News' penchant for using Dow figures to cast aspersions on progressives.

From the March 20 edition of Fox News' Happening Now and the March 20 edition of Fox News' The Live Desk with Martha and Trace:

JANE SKINNER (co-host): All right. You're taking a look at a live picture of Vice President Joe Biden there waiting for President Obama to speak. They're going to be speaking to this group of state legislatures -- basically representatives from the legislatures and lawmakers about this -- that massive stimulus bill that passed Congress; talk about where exactly your tax dollars are going and how it's being spent.

OBAMA: Thank you, guys. Thank you.

SKINNER: And right on cue, let's take a listen to President Obama.

OBAMA: Thank you very much. Thank you, thank you so much. Please, everybody have a seat. Thank you so much. It is wonderful to see so many of you, a lot of old friends who I saw on the campaign trail and had a chance to meet all across the country, and I'm glad we're now gathered together to try to actually get something done.

[...]

OBAMA: And while I do not know how long the road to recovery will be, I do know that we're in a fight right now to get this economy back on track. And if we act with the same sense of responsibility that Harry Truman showed during wartime all those years ago, and if we build a partnership that stretches from the State House to the White House, then we'll turn this economy around, and the American people will emerge from this crisis stronger than we were before. So thank you very much. I'm looking forward to working with you. Thank you, guys. Thank you, thank you.

Now, before I start taking some questions, I want to bring up to the podium here [North Carolina State] Speaker Joe Hackney [D], who is wearing his Tar Heel blue today. I was entirely objective in filing out my college brackets, much to the consternation of [Obama aide] Reggie Love from Duke. But, Joe's not here to talk basketball; he's here to speak on your behalf. Joe, great to see you.

MARTHA MacCALLUM (co-host): All right, welcome everybody. You are at The Live Desk. I'm Martha MacCallum.

GALLAGER: I'm Trace Gallagher. The president there talking with the -- well, it's a conference of state legislators there. Of course, he was talking about the economy. It's important to point out that before the president began talking -- we don't know if there's any correlation -- the Dow was up 28. The Dow, by the way, is now down 28 points. We'll keep our eyes focused on that.