Note: This “Moore to the Point” commentary aired on NewsTalkSTL on Friday, August 12th. Audio included below.

This was “Inflation Week” – the time we get the previous month’s CPI and PPI numbers which tell us how much prices have risen year over year. In case you haven’t heard, there is great cause for celebration. You see, consumer prices only rose by 8.6 percent year over year in July and producer prices by 9.8 percent, meaning both indexes came in at half a percent lower than they did in June.

But that’s not even the best part of it. No, folks, the rate of inflation didn’t just slow last month – according to our esteemed president and his administration, it was ZERO.

On Wednesday, Joe Biden stood in front of a podium and declared: “Today we received news that our economy had 0% inflation in the month of July.” This wasn’t a standard-issue Biden gaffe. That zero percent claim was echoed by his press secretary and his chief of staff. They’re actually trying to tell the American people that 8.6 percent equals zero because it’s less than 9.1 percent.

And why not? They’ve already redefined recession. Why not just reinvent how math works while they’re at it?

This is next-level gaslighting. Here’s the thing about gaslighting – I’ve never seen the movie from which the term derives, but out of curiosity, I looked up the plot and it’s gratifying to know that it doesn’t end well for the gaslighter.