In an effort to instigate their viewers to feel economic doom over the current U.S. military operations in Iran, ABC World News Tonight committed what could be charitably described as an egregious act of fake news. Anchor David Muir linked the just-released Consumer Price Index for February to rising gas prices, and achieved this by omitting a key phrase. Watch the brief as aired in its entirety on ABC World News Tonight on Wednesday, March 12th, 2026: FAKE NEWS: Watch as @ABCWorldNews David Muir falsely links February CPI data to the Iran operation. CPI came in at expectations. DAVID MUIR: To the economy tonight. Gas prices soaring amid the war in Iran and news on inflation on the rise. A new report showing the Consumer Price… pic.twitter.com/hzSP2IYeO5 — Jorge Bonilla (@BonillaJL) March 12, 2026 DAVID MUIR: To the economy tonight. Gas prices soaring amid the war in Iran and news on inflation on the rise. A new report showing the Consumer Price Index up 2.4% in February compared to one year ago. The national average for a gallon of gas now at $3.59, roughly 60 cents up last week. The Dow losing nearly 300 points today, falling to its lowest close this year. What Muir did here is that he sandwiched the CPI between mentions of rising gas prices, creating the illusion of intertwinement. Notice the weird sentence there: “Gas prices soaring amid the war in Iran and news on inflation on the rise.” But this is a false construction as one does not have to do with the other.  Per CNBC: Prices consumers pay for a broad range of goods and services rose in line with expectations for February, offering a final look at inflation pressures before an oil shock tied to the Iran war rattled the outlook. The consumer price index increased a seasonally adjusted 0.3% for the month, putting the 12-month inflation rate at 2.4%, according to Bureau of Labor Statistics data released Wednesday. Both numbers matched the Dow Jones consensus forecast. Stripping out volatile food and energy prices, the core CPI posted a 0.2% monthly reading and 2.5% annual rate, compared with forecasts for 0.2% and 2.5%, also in line with the estimates. The key phrase that Muir left out? “As expected.” As in, economists EXPECTED inflation to come in where it did.  It is worth noting that the operation began on February 28th. February’s inflation had nothing to do with Iran and there was no reason to link these together except to instill fear in viewers. By definition, this was scant more than fake news.