Larry Kudlow Opens His ‘Money Mouth’, Out Come ‘Glitches’

Larry Kudlow was already a standing joke before he decided it was a good idea to step aboard the Titanic after Gary Cohn grabbed a lifeboat nearly a year ago just as Trump’s trade war was ramping up in earnest.

Were this any other administration, the idea that Larry would try to fill Gary Cohn’s shoes would have been terrifying, but considering the alternative (which was Peter Navarro running around unchecked at 1600 Penn.), “Kudlow takes over US economic policy” was actually the most bullish headline possible last March. That’s a true testament to how dire the straits really were.

Of course subbing in Kudlow – an 80s relic, complete with suspenders, french cuffs and a contrasting white collar – was never meant to produce any actual “results”. Kudlow’s whole job is to defend Trump’s fiscal policies on CNBC and Fox and to avoid getting in the way when Navarro thinks it’s time to turn the screws on Beijing in the trade war. Trump might as well have just gone to eBay, looked up “Gordon Gekko doll, original, in box” and plopped it down in a chair.

Initially, it was somewhat amusing to watch Larry bask in the glory of what he mistakenly thinks is a good career choice, but now it’s just annoying. He’s become the economic equivalent of Sarah Sanders – that is, he’s a shameless propagandist who lies to the public for a living.

Take his claim from last summer about the deficit for instance. He told America that thanks to Trump’s policies, the deficit was “falling rapidly”. In fact, it’s ballooning ever wider.

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Larry Kudlow Would Never Lie To You, So That Horrific Deficit Number Must Be Wrong

Kudlow was taken to task on that today by CNBC’s Eamon Javers and instead of admitting the obvious, Larry doubled down.

“Larry told me that despite this week’s deficit numbers, the administration still believes the Trump tax cuts will lead to lower deficits in the long run”, Javers tweeted on Thursday, before quoting Kudlow as follows:

They will go down, they will go down.

When Javers asked if Larry was confident about that, he said this:

I am.

To be clear, either Larry is lying, or he’s delusional. Even someone who suffers from a severe case of supply-side delirium can’t possibly believe that Trump’s fiscal policies are going to end up reducing the deficit. Literally nobody with any credibility thinks that.

When asked what steps the administration is taking to reduce the deficit, Kudlow said this:

Growth, growth, growth.

Well, speaking of “growth, growth, growth”, retail sales “shrank, shrank, shrank” by the
“most, most, most” since 2009 in December.

The abysmal drop (reported Thursday morning on a four-week delay) came amid the worst month for US stocks since the Great Depression and just as Trump was busy getting the ball rolling on what would end up being the longest government shutdown in modern history.

Fortunately, Larry had an explanation for the plunge in retail sales. Here it is:

[There are] glitches in the number.

Right – “glitches”. And you know, maybe Larry is right. But at this point, his penchant for lying about anything and everything in the service of perpetuating Trump’s MAGA mythology means that every time he opens his mouth, America laughs. Such is the plight of anyone who associates themselves with this White House.

That said, there wasn’t anything particularly funny when Larry suggested, in the same set of remarks, that he “hopes the Fed steps aside.” For the thousandth time, it is not the administration’s place to weigh in publicly on Fed policy and even if you think it’s fine, it’s hard to argue with the notion that this White House has set such a dubious precedent when it comes to critiquing the central bank, that any and all comments should henceforth be seen as an attempt to intimidate Jerome Powell.

Finally, here’s Kudlow explaining that the biggest threat to America are redistributive policies designed to help bridge the wealth gap and reduce inequality.

Now quick, “has anybody ever heard of Larry Kudlow?”

Yes, “when you hear that voice, you just think money”.

Or at least that’s what Trump thinks. The rest of us “just think” decades of Merit Ultra Lights.

And lies. We also think lies.