On "This Week," ABC News reporter Jonathan Karl challenged White House Press Secretary Jay Carney over the knee-jerk excuse that administration officials give when they are asked about the bad economic numbers.
During the interview, Karl showed a clip of Sen. Tim Scott, R-S.C., reminding his audience that seven million more Americans are living in poverty today who were not in poverty when Bush was leaving office.
"I assume Senator Scott didn&apos;t notice that, you know, a lot of people were thrown into poverty by the worst recession since the Great Depression, which was in full bloom when President Obama was sworn into office," Carney replied, after Karl asked him to react.
"But the president has had five years, Jay," Karl replied. "Five years. And the -- the economic crisis is in the rear-view mirror. The Bush years are in the rear-view mirror. And he hasn&apos;t been able to turn this around. Doesn&apos;t the president bear some responsibility -- his policies -- for the fact that the poverty rate in America has gone up and the gap between rich and poor is only greater?"