By Mary Lou Masters
President Joe Biden refused to take responsibility Friday for high levels of inflation when asked by a reporter if he was to blame, instead arguing elevated prices were a problem during the previous administration.
When asked by a reporter if he took any blame for inflation, Biden responded “no.” When asked why, he answered, “It was there when I got here, man.”
“Remember what the economy was like when I got here? Jobs were hemorrhaging, inflation was rising, we weren’t manufacturing a damn thing here, we were in real economic difficulty, that’s why I don’t,” Biden said.
The Consumer Price Index (CPI), a key measure of inflation, was at 1.4% in January 2021, when Biden took office, but dramatically increased throughout his presidency, according to data from the Department of Labor. Following the president’s first month in office, CPI rose to 1.7% in February, 2.6% in March, 4.2% in April, and grew to 7% by the end of 2021.
Biden signed into law several massive multi-trillion dollar spending bills, including the American Rescue Plan and the Inflation Reduction Act.
In July 2022, Biden experienced the highest inflation rate of his presidency, at 9.1%, according to Department of Labor data.
According to employment data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the U.S. economy added 517,000 jobs in January, with the unemployment rate clocking in at 3.4%. Economist had originally expected 187,000 additional jobs.
The views and opinions expressed in this commentary are those of the author and do not reflect the official position of Citizens Journal
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