Fox Business anchor Connell McShane threw cold water on the “crazy” conspiracy theory promoted by former GE CEO Jack Welsh, and echoed by several Fox colleagues, that the Obama administration “change[d] the numbers” in the latest employment data.
“I mentioned silly season at the top. Check this tweet out from Jack Welch, former General Electric CEO. A lot of people talking about this,” McShane said during FBN's Markets Now. “It's crazy stuff what he actually said on Twitter.”
McShane hosted Fox News contributor Monica Crowley, who cast doubt on the number on Twitter, and said “right off the top” that the numbers are “not fudged. Because that's an important part of this discussion. When you start going down that road, I mean there's no data, no facts, nothing supports that.”
Co-anchor Dagen McDowell replied: “I was just going to say, it's like bitching about polls. It's like bitching that the polls are wrong.” In recent weeks, conservative media figures have embraced the conspiracy theory that pollsters and the media are skewing data to benefit Obama.
Several Fox personalities, including Fox Business personalities Stuart Varney and Charles Payne, have echoed Welch in suggesting that the jobs numbers are fishy.
McShane also refuted the conspiracy theory on Twitter, writing: “Turning into a crazy day on twitter. We should be clear. There is ZERO evidence to support the theory that the jobs number is fudged. Zero.”
McShane later claimed that while the data wasn't fudged, it is “not necessarily a great number by the way. It's 582,000 of the 873 is part-time workers. So, I mean, you don't have to say the number's fudged. It is not that great a number even on the surface of things.”
From the October 5 edition of Fox Business' Markets Now:
MCSHANE: Boy, it's the politics of all this. I mentioned silly season at the top. Check this tweet out from Jack Welch, former General Electric CEO. A lot of people talking about this. It's crazy stuff what he actually said on Twitter. “Unbelievable jobs numbers. Chicago guys will do anything.” Talking about the debate, “can't debate so change the numbers,” says Jack Welch.
DAGEN MCDOWELL: Let's bring in Monica Crowley, Fox News contributor and author of What The (Bleep) Just Happened? Monica, what the bleep did he just say? Come on.
CROWLEY: I think so many people this morning are going, “What the bleep?” with these numbers, right?
MCSHANE: Right. But they're not fudge -- but I would say right off the top, they're not fudged. Because that's an important part of this discussion. When you start going down that road, I mean there's no data, no facts, nothing supports that.
[CROSSTALK]
DAGEN MCDOWELL: No, I was just going to say, it's like bitching about polls. It's like bitching that the polls are wrong. It's the same -- it says the same thing.