Media mogul Steve Forbes says Biden will NOT be Democratic nominee for 2024 because of poor economy

Media mogul Steve Forbes says he does not believe President Joe Biden will be the Democratic nominee for the 2024 election with the economy solely to blame. 

Forbes, the chairman of Forbes media, said he believes the poor state of the economy will cost Biden the Democratic nomination. 

‘I think what’s happening with the economy, even though it’s not officially in a recession, it’s sort of the economic equivalent of walking pneumonia,’ he said on Fox News on Friday.

‘Not enough to put you in bed yet, but just dragging you down, draining the energy. I think there is economy fatigue, one thing after another.’

Forbes, who is worth an estimated $430million, made the comments after a Fox News poll found  83 percent of Americans believe the economy to be in a ‘fair/poor’ state.

‘So, inflation has come down a little bit. Prices are still going up. Wages aren’t going up fast enough. There’s a feeling the country is adrift,’ he said. 

‘These whole negotiations on the debt ceiling, my goodness! They can’t control spending even though it’s $2trillion higher than it was a couple of years ago. 

‘People just throw up their hands and say these people are out of control. 

Inflation figures slowed for the 10th consecutive month in April, offering some respite for overstretched households.

Statistics from the US Bureau of Labor Statistics show the rate of annual inflation is now 4.9 percent – down from its peak of 9.1 percent in June 2022. 

It marks the first time the US has seen a rise of less than five percent in less than two years – though it remains far above the Fed‘s target rate of two percent.

But it’s not all bad news. A breakdown of the data by Dailymail.com reveals that while the price of certain groceries such as eggs is still extremely high, tech products such as smartphones and TVs are actually defying inflation.

The cost of eggs has shot up 21.4 percent in the last 12 months, while flour is 17.8 percent more expensive. 

Aside from inflation, Congress and the White House are currently negotiating over the national debt ceiling. 

Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen stated June 1 to be the deadline to extend the debt ceiling.

It has led to panic from both sides of the political spectrum as Republicans call for spending cuts, while President Joe Biden wants to raise the debt ceiling.

If an agreement isn’t reached soon, the US could default on its debt, spelling catastrophe for households. 

Experts say it could cause seven million jobs to be lost – if the debt default lasts for more than six weeks – investments to plummet and mortgage payments to shoot up.

Biden is struggling to maintain approval from the American public in light of the economic challenges.

A poll from The Associated Press and the National Opinion Research Center (AP-NORC) found that Biden has only a 33 percent  approval when it comes to the economy.

Forbes believes the economy will be the Achilles heel of Biden’s second run at the White House.

‘I think that’s why next year Joe Biden will not be the Democratic Party nominee … Because the economy — yeah, they can sweep the Hunter stuff away — but that has a stench out there. So you have a poor economy, you have a president people feel is not up to the job anymore, certainly not for the next four years. So I don’t know what the scenario is going to be, but they cannot have him running in November of 2024.’

Many Americans continue to struggle with price of everyday items that now sit stubbornly higher than they did before the COVID pandemic. 

The Consumer Price Index report released earlier this month shows that there are still increases in the cost of energy commodities and gasoline, which are pushing the inflation rate higher. 

Prices of gasoline are up 3 percent from just one month prior, and energy commodities are up 2.7 percent.

For consumers, that meant that it became costlier in April to fill up their cars, with motor fuel costs up 2.6 percent from March 2023. 

There were increases in the prices of homes, used vehicles and services.

Shelter costs, which account for about one-third of the CPI weighting, increased 0.4 percent from March, and are now up 8.1 percent from one year ago.

The cost of used cars and trucks, meanwhile, increased a whopping 4.4 percent from the month prior. 

It also became costlier in April to bring a pet to the veterinarian, with services up 3.2 percent. 

And the prices of toys were up 7.2 percent over the month, while fees for lessors instructions were up 5 percent. 

But those increases were offset somewhat by decreases in new vehicles and food cooked at home. 

According to the latest data, the cost of milk fell 2 percent from March — the largest monthly drop in milk prices since February 2015.

Egg prices also fell 1.5 percent, but were still up 21.4 percent over the year. 

Interestingly, health insurance costs also fell 3.8 percent over the month, while the cost of public transportation was down 5 percent. 

Excluding volatile food and energy prices, so-called core inflation rose 0.4 percent in April from the prior month, and 5.5 percent from 12 months ago.

Total employment also rose by a surging 253,000 jobs in April. That was far above what economists had projected, and an increase from the brisk 236,000 new jobs created in March. 

At the same time, the unemployment rate ticked back down to 3.4 percent, matching a six-decade low, from 3.5 percent the month before, according to the Labor Department’s employment situation report on Friday.

Labor force participation, a key measure of how many eligible workers are either employed or seeking work, was unchanged from March at 62.6 percent.

It matched the highest level of participation in the workforce since the early days of the pandemic in March 2020, but remained below the pre-pandemic average of 63.1 percent seen in 2019.