Dwain Northey (Gen X)

It’s become a national pastime: someone, somewhere, declaring with unwavering conviction that “Biden ruined the economy.” They say it like it’s gospel truth, handed down on stone tablets between Fox News commercial breaks.

So you ask the question—just for fun. “Okay, what did the economy look like in January 1925?”

“Oh, it was great!” they insist, confidently rewriting history as if they personally owned stock in the Roaring Twenties. You can almost see them picturing flappers dancing through speakeasies while Coolidge quietly set the stage for the Great Depression.

Then you follow up: “And what does the economy look like now?”

“Terrible. Biden ruined it.”

“Who’s president now?” you ask.

Cue the confusion. A long pause. Then the reflexive deflection—“Fake news! You just believe whatever CNN tells you!” Logic short-circuits faster than a Tesla on dial-up.

But the pièce de résistance comes next. They shake their head, sigh dramatically, and deliver the line as if it’s a mic drop: “Gas was cheaper under Trump!”

Ah yes, the 2020 golden age—when the world economy flatlined because of a global pandemic that Donald Trump spent months pretending didn’t exist. Gas was cheap, sure, but only because no one was driving anywhere. Planes were grounded, streets were empty, and oil companies were practically paying people to take barrels off their hands. But to them, that wasn’t an economic collapse; that was “good times.”

Meanwhile, under Biden, the economy actually came back to life. Jobs returned in record numbers. Unemployment hit historic lows. The U.S. recovered faster from the pandemic than any other major nation. But none of that matters—because apparently, freedom means gas at $1.80, no matter if it came with a side of refrigerated morgues and empty grocery shelves.

It’s a peculiar kind of nostalgia—one that longs for a past that never quite existed, where gas was cheap, the stock market was “booming,” and the only thing spreading faster than COVID was denial.

So when someone insists Biden ruined the economy, just smile and say, “You’re right—nothing says prosperity like a deadly pandemic and 30 million unemployed.” Then sit back and watch history, logic, and irony all vanish faster than a mask mandate in a red state.