Club for Growth launches ad blitz hitting Biden amid recession fears

The conservative Club for Growth launched an ad blitz targeting President Biden amid fears of a recession after data released by the Commerce Department on Thursday showed U.S. gross domestic product (GDP) fell for the second quarter in a row.

“Joe Biden says,” a narrator begins the 30-second ad, before pivoting to a clip of Biden saying “my economic plan is moving this country in a better direction.”

“But today, America is officially in a recession. And the Biden recession is because of Biden policies. Radical economic plan causing painful inflation and radical environmental plan causing pain at the pump,” the narrator says.

“Call Joe Biden and tell him the only thing his economic plan is doing is hurting your family,” the narrator continues.

The ad campaign, which was first reported by Breitbart News, will air on the Sunday shows this upcoming weekend in Arizona, Nevada and North Carolina, among other places. The ad blitz is a part of a six-figure TV and digital ad buy.

“Since taking office, the Biden administration has laughed at the very real concerns facing our economy by downplaying the hardships American families are experiencing and by shifting blame and overtly lying. Make no mistake, America is now in Biden’s recession regardless of what the administration tries to say,” Club for Growth President David McIntosh said in a statement.

Earlier on Thursday, the Commerce Department released data showing that GDP shrunk for the second quarter in a row at an annual pace of 0.9 percent between April and June.  

While some countries’ formal definition of a recession is negative economic growth for two straight quarters, a broader range of data is generally used by U.S. economists in making that determination.

Biden defended the recently released data in a statement on Thursday, saying “it’s no surprise that the economy is slowing down as the Federal Reserve acts to bring down inflation.”

“But even as we face historic global challenges, we are on the right path and we will come through this transition stronger and more secure. Our job market remains historically strong, with unemployment at 3.6% and more than 1 million jobs created in the second quarter alone. Consumer spending is continuing to grow,” he said. 

Nevertheless, campaigns immediately used the new data to tie the economic news to their respective opponents. 

Ohio Senate candidate J.D. Vance’s campaign pinned the recession on his Democratic opponent, Rep. Tim Ryan, calling it the “Ryan Recession” and claiming the congressman was “responsible” for it. 

The economic news will add to the present headwinds Democrats already face ahead of the November midterms as they grapple with President Biden’s lagging approval numbers and key issues like inflation.