Are Americans feeling worse this holiday season than in recent years? That’s the narrative emerging from the legacy press but there’s very little to support it.

The Associated Press published a widely distributed story this week claiming American shoppers face economic conditions this holiday season that “look very similar” to December 2022, when inflation hit a four-decade high. But an examination of the polling data reveals the news organization strategically omitted asking key questions about holiday shopping behavior in 2023 and 2024, while using loaded language and selective anecdotes to manufacture a narrative of Trump-era economic failure.

The December 12 story, doesn’t lead with the consumer perceptions and shopping behaviors the poll actually measured. Instead, it opens with a

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