For the second straight day, CNN This Morning host Audie Cornish served up carefully curated anecdotal voices to suggest broad economic discontent under President Trump. On Monday, we caught Cornish spotlighting one Republican voter — out of tens of millions nationwide — to imply GOP unease over the economy. On Tuesday, she swapped that single poll respondent for a montage of social media complaints. The segment opened with a young woman declaring, “Everything is so expensive, and our wages haven’t changed.” Minutes later, viewers saw a trio of social media clips — including that same young woman again — lamenting high grocery prices, gas costs, and benefit cuts. Yes, Cornish thought that first clip was so nice, she played it twice. One young man asserted that “Most people are losing things like SNAP, WIC, things of that nature, and can’t even afford to live,” audibly stressing the word. Apparently, survival itself is now in doubt. Cornish offered no pushback on that hyperbolic claim. Not only are "most people" not on food stamps, the "cuts" are about observing work requirements for your food. But CNN likes the sound of Trump starving people. Viewers weren’t told who these individuals were, how their clips were selected, whether their views were representative, or even which platforms they came from. Cornish turned to nonbinary panelist V Spehar because she “lives in TikTok land,” although the clips themselves carried no visible TikTok branding and were described only as coming from “social media.” Then came the moment of candor. Cornish acknowledged, “In TikTok land, I realize everyone’s algorithm is biased.” Exactamundo, Audie! And it’s obvious what your bias is! Cornish Admits Algorithm Bias — But Ignores Her Own in Social Media Attack on Trump’s Economy@CNNThisMorning @AudieCornish @realDonaldTrump pic.twitter.com/sesVstzVHf — Mark Finkelstein (@markfinkelstein) February 24, 2026 Spehar briefly went off script, noting that immigration “is definitely still the thing” dominating online conversation — contradicting the heavy emphasis on economic angst. But V quickly made amends, suggesting many people online are less interested in Trump’s speech than in hearing the response from the Mamdani-affiliated Working Families Party. Two days. Four anecdotal voices. No context. All criticizing Trump. At least former Trump communications director Mike Dubke was on hand to explain how Trump's speech would reset issues for the midterm elections. In choosing viewpoints from "average Americans," CNN didn’t expose algorithmic bias. It demonstrated it. Here's the transcript. CNN This Morning 2/24/26 6:00 am ET AUDIE CORNISH: Today in the Group Chat, President Trump's address to the nation. Voters want to hear how he'll lower high prices. So is he going to deliver?  YOUNG WOMAN IN SOCIAL MEDIA CLIP: Everything is so expensive, and our wages haven't changed.  . . .  PRESIDENT TRUMP: If I came up with a cure for cancer, they would say, he should have done it years ago. There's not a thing I can do where these people [points to media members in audience] are going to give me credit.  CORNISH: President Trump's skeptical that he'll change a lot of minds with his State of the Union address.  Good morning, everybody. I'm Audie Cornish. We begin with tonight's speech. In many ways, it is a test run for the GOP message as midterms approach. Overwhelmingly, Americans across all parties want the president to address the economy and rising prices.  OLDER MAN IN SOCIAL MEDIA CLIP: The cost of living, the cost of groceries, the cost of gas.  YOUNGER MAN IN SOCIAL MEDIA CLIP: Most people are losing things like SNAP, WIC, things of that nature, and they can't even afford to Iive, yet [alone] buy food.  SAME YOUNG WOMAN FROM FIRST CLIP: At this time, to provide gas, food, clothing, houses. Everything is so expensive, and our wages haven't changed.  CORNISH: It doesn't look like they will get the answers they want, at least not yet.  TRUMP: We have a country that's now doing well. We have the greatest economy we've ever had. We have the most activity we've ever had. I'm making a speech tomorrow night, and you'll be hearing me say that. I mean, it's going to be a long speech because we have so much to talk about.  CORNISH: Today in the group chat, Stephen Collinson, CNN Politics senior reporter, Mike Dubke, former Trump White House communications director, and V. Spehar digital journalist and creator at Under the Desk News.  So I feel like with that amount of clips from social media, V., I want to start with you. You live in TikTok land.  V SPEHAR: I do.  CORNISH: And I realize everyone's algorithm is biased. But what are you seeing? Are you seeing people who do think the economy is the thing, or is immigration the thing they're talking about?  SPEHAR: So, immigration is definitely still the thing they're talking about. I think what has been interesting is the fact that it appears that folks on social media don't have a lot of high hopes or expectations for what he's going to actually say tonight.  A lot of folks are looking towards, like, the Working Family Party response after the speech, or how this is going to manifest into policy later on. But what I'm hearing is, folks are confused. One, should they watch in the first place or is it just another campaign rally? And two, what does this matter? What is it going to change for them in their daily life?