The Josh Hammer Report

Josh Hammer

Newsweek Senior Editor-at-Large And Host,
"The Josh Hammer Show"

Welcome back! Here are some highlights from the last week.

My most recent column focused on the intense gaslighting that is President Joe Biden's apparent decision to center his 2024 re-election campaign around so-called "Bidenomics." (This also happens to be the subject of an hour-long TV special I just filmed—see below!) The reality is the only reason the senile Biden and vice presidential cackler-in-chief Kamala Harris are making "Bidenomics" the centerpiece of their re-election campaign is that they truly have nothing else to run on; certainly, it cannot be immigration, crime, foreign policy, or anything of the sort. Unfortunately for the president, the American voters who have actually lived through "Bidenomics" these past few years will easily see through the ruse. Rather than be seduced by dishonest talk about the Biden-Harris regime somehow making America more "energy independent" (how laughable!), voters will remember the formal recession of 2022, the 40-year-high inflation reached that same year, debilitating gasoline and grocery prices, the historic supply chain crisis of 2021, real wage declines, spiking mortgage payments, and other glaring Biden-Harris economic screw-ups.

My most recent podcast episode featured special guest Steve Deace, host of the popular "Steve Deace Show" on Blaze Media. Steve is based in Des Moines, Iowa, and our conversation primarily focused on all things Iowa: the current state of Iowa's first-in-the-nation presidential nomination caucuses, held in mid-January; what to expect over the next few months in the lead-up to caucus night; the importance of Iowa to the insurgent 2024 presidential campaign of Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (whom both Steve and I support over former President Donald Trump); and Iowa's importance as a field-winnower and national launching pad, in terms of the remainder of the 2024 GOP presidential primary calendar. Steve and I also discussed the current state of, and the best path forward for, the pro-life movement, of which both he and I are very much a part. Steve's show is one of my very favorite podcasts I go on with some degree of regularity, and it is always a pleasure to return the favor. His analysis was typically incisive, making for a must-listen. You can catch that episode on Apple, Spotify or here.

In terms of other media hits and appearances since our last newsletter, I joined "Tipping Point with Kara McKinney" on One America News Network to discuss Elon Musk taking on the ADL and the fight for free speech online; co-hosted (as always) the Edmund Burke Foundation's weekly "NatCon Squad" podcast; was quoted at length in a recent Hamodia article about why we must fight back against the Big Tech threat; joined "The Shannon Joy Show" for a wide-ranging conversation about the debilitating and self-defeating victimology on the Right, the continuing search for accountability for those who so grievously wronged us during the COVID-19 pandemic, and much more; recorded a CenterClip audio op-ed on remembering 9/11 22 years later; joined "Rita Panahi Overtime" on Sky News Australia to discuss the failures of "Bidenomics," the Biden regime seeking preposterous vengeance against my friend (and recent podcast guest) Chris Rufo, and more; joined "National Report" on Newsmax to discuss whether Biden will ever debate 2024 Democratic presidential primary opponent RFK, Jr.; hosted an hour-long unique TV special for The First, Breaking Bidenomics, about the president's myriad economic failings and his dishonest attempts to gaslight the American people to the contrary; and joined the "Steak for Breakfast Podcast" to discuss Biden's recent capitulation to the terrorist Iranian regime on 9/11 of all days, the state of the 2024 GOP presidential primary, and more.

I'm also returning next week to the campus speaking circuit. I'll be up at Cornell Law School next Tuesday and Syracuse University College of Law next Wednesday for a couple of Federalist Society speaking events. I hope to see some readers there.

Our additional highlighted right-leaning Newsweek op-eds from the past week include selections from Kevin Sabet, Paul du Quenoy, Rachel N. Morrison, Lee Habeeb, and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

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Spotlight

SCOTT OLSON/GETTY IMAGES

'Bidenomics' Gaslighting Reveals POTUS's Impotence in Lead-Up to 2024

The 2024 Joe Biden presidential campaign, which has thus far been essentially nonexistent, is now out with a crisp 30-second TV ad titled, "Got to Work." The ad, which targets local Michigan broadcasts and other national battleground states during this week's NFL season opener, touts the 46th president's first-term track record on such economic issues as "fixing supply chains" and "mak(ing) us more energy-independent." The fact that this is the subject of Biden's first major post-Labor Day advertising barrage confirms what was already fairly obvious: The president and his team intend to make so-called Bidenomics the focal point of their re-election campaign messaging.

There is just one glaring problem: It is all a lie. Biden can try to gaslight the American people and retcon the past few years to his heart's content, but the evidence is simply overwhelming. The ruse will not work.

Last year, the U.S. economy formally entered a recession—which until 2022, when the Biden administration attempted to redefine the word, universally meant consecutive quarters of negative GDP growth. Around the same time last year, annualized inflation on the consumer price index surpassed 9%—the highest reading in four decades, since the infamous "stagflation" of the Jimmy Carter era. Inflation was particularly thorny for many basic household food staples, such as chicken and eggs, some of which experienced 20%-30% inflation at summertime 2022 peaks.

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