Infuriated by a scathing United Nations report estimating that over 18 million Americans are living in "extreme poverty" and accusing the Trump administration of "deliberately" making such destitution worse with its tax cuts for the rich, the White House insisted in its June response to the U.N. analysis that the United States is overflowing with "prosperity" and that claims of widespread poverty are "exaggerated."
But internal State Department emails and documents obtained by Foreign Policy and the non-profit journalism website Coda Story show that the Trump administration ignored advice of White House economic analysts and knowingly lied to the public about the severity of American poverty, which the U.N. Special Rapporteur on Extreme Poverty and Human Rights Philip Alston described as "shocking."
Foreign Policy reported on Thursday that officials who were consulted last-minute on a draft of the White House's rebuttal of the U.N. findings "questioned the accuracy of the data the administration was citing."
Despite the fact that the U.N. analysis cited government statistics to bolster its claims about poverty in America, the Trump administration opted to draw from a report by the right-wing Heritage Foundation, which concluded that 250,000 Americans are living in extreme poverty—a stark contrast to the U.N.'s conclusion that the correct number is 18.25 million.
Published on
Friday, August 03, 2018
by
Common Dreams
'Insidious': Emails Show Trump White House Lied About US Poverty Levels to Discredit Critical UN Report
With its attempt to falsify statistics and whitewash uncomfortable facts about poverty in America, the White House once again demonstrated its "contempt" for the poor, one critic argued
by
Jake Johnson, staff writer
37 Comments
President Donald Trump shows an executive order after signing it beside members of his cabinet in the Oval Office of the White House on March 17, 2017 in Washington, D.C. (Photo: Michael Reynolds-Pool/Getty Images)
Infuriated by a scathing United Nations report estimating that over 18 million Americans are living in "extreme poverty" and accusing the Trump administration of "deliberately" making such destitution worse with its tax cuts for the rich, the White House insisted in its June response to the U.N. analysis that the United States is overflowing with "prosperity" and that claims of widespread poverty are "exaggerated."
"This is not as dramatic as Trump's tweets or bald-faced lies at press briefings. But in a way it is far more insidious; the contempt for facts is pervasive and maddening."
—Jeff Greenfield
But internal State Department emails and documents obtained by Foreign Policy and the non-profit journalism website Coda Story show that the Trump administration ignored advice of White House economic analysts and knowingly lied to the public about the severity of American poverty, which the U.N. Special Rapporteur on Extreme Poverty and Human Rights Philip Alston described as "shocking."
Foreign Policy reported on Thursday that officials who were consulted last-minute on a draft of the White House's rebuttal of the U.N. findings "questioned the accuracy of the data the administration was citing."
Despite the fact that the U.N. analysis cited government statistics to bolster its claims about poverty in America, the Trump administration opted to draw from a report by the right-wing Heritage Foundation, which concluded that 250,000 Americans are living in extreme poverty—a stark contrast to the U.N.'s conclusion that the correct number is 18.25 million.
One economic adviser also urged the White House to "not get into" America's steady economic growth, writing: "Already 8-9 years long… which started under Obama and we inherited and then expanded. But it will end prob[ably] in 1-2 years." The Trump administration ignored this advice, touting a "new era of economic growth."
While the White House brushed aside the concerns of some officials, they did modify parts of their response to the U.N. after advisers questioned how truly prosperous the American economy is under Trump.
"Wages haven't really picked up, other than for supervisors," an official from the Council of Economic Advisers wrote in response to a line in an early draft about workers' salaries rising. "This triggers the left—best to leave it off."
