Black man's work, white man's credit: Fox’s Stuart Varney credits Trump for an Obama-era economic trend

Varney claims April 2018’s record median household income is a stark contrast compared to “a dead flat line” under Obama, except the upward trend began in 2014 thanks to Obama.

Written by Bobby Lewis

Published

On the May 24 edition of Fox News’ Fox & Friends, Fox Business host Stuart Varney trumpeted a report showing last month had the highest median U.S. household income since January 2000, which Varney called a “direct result of President Trump’s policies.” However, the growth seen under Trump is a continuation of a trend begun during the Barack Obama administration -- even though Varney falsely claimed there was no household income growth under Obama.

STUART VARNEY (HOST, VARNEY & CO.): President Trump's growth policy, his growth program, is working. We are gradually returning to prosperity. And it is the direct result of President Trump's policies. He has gone for tax cuts, he has gone for deregulation, and he has turned the economy around. And with it, he has turned around that feeling of prosperity that households have. That graphic you just showed: January 2017, $59,400 median household income. Half the population more, half the population less. OK. Fast-forward to April 2018, you’re up $2,000 per household. Three percent higher in, what, 15 months. That compares to a dead flat line throughout the eight Obama years. We are returning to prosperity because of President Trump's policies.

Varney’s bizarre claim that median household income was “a dead flat line throughout the eight Obama years” is a fabrication. Household income fell because of the George W. Bush-era Great Recession, which Obama’s policies began to reverse. The median household income Varney congratulated Trump for is the latest data point in a consistently upward trend that began during the Obama administration, in late summer 2014. More broadly, data shows that median household income has generally been trending upward since summer 2011. 


Image via TalkMarkets

As The Washington Post’s Nicole Lewis explained in December 2017, members of the Trump administration, including Trump, like to brag about the economy and assign him outsize credit for it. However, due in part to the complexities of the economy and the pace of rolling out presidential policy, Trump’s economic policy has yet to fully impact the nation, whereas “we are probably still feeling the effects of policies laid out by the previous administration.” 

Regular readers of The Fact Checker know we automatically award Two Pinocchios to anyone (editorials included) who gives sole credit to a president for economic improvements. That’s because the U.S. economy is complex, and the decisions of companies and consumers often loom larger than the acts of government.

Moreover, it usually takes time and effort for presidential policies to work their way through the country. One year into the presidency, we are probably still feeling the effects of policies laid out by the previous administration.