Biden Says He Bears No Responsibility For Rising Inflation

President Biden refused to take any responsibility for the high levels of inflation, claiming the elevated prices were a problem he inherited from his predecessor and that he is not to one to blame for the ongoing inflation crisis hitting Americans under his watch.

“Do you take any blame for inflation?” a reporter asked Biden

“Do I take the blame for inflation? No,” Biden responded to the reporter’s question regarding the staggering inflation numbers that have plagued his 2 years of presidency.

“Why not?” the reporter pressed on.

“Because it was already there when I got here, man,” Biden claimed. “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 has repeatedly blamed the nation’s current economic struggles he inflicted by claiming he “inherited” it from the previous administration. However, government economic data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics shows that inflation had risen only under Biden. In January 2021, when Biden first took office, the Consumer Price Index (CPI) which measures inflation on goods and services was at 1.4% annually. The majority of Biden’s presidency has seen inflation dramatically increased following the passage of the “American Rescue Plan,” which he signed into law on March 2021.

A month after the ARP passage, inflation in April grew to 4.2% and continued to grow monthly. By the end of 2021, inflation had hit 7%. In the calendar year 2021, Biden’s first year in office, the inflation rate topped 4.7% — a rate not seen since 1991.

Prices have risen 13.7% since Biden took office. Year-over-Year inflation has been over 5% or higher for 20 straight months, with all of 2022 seeing a four-decade-high. Inflation peaked at 9.1% last June, the highest rate of Biden’s presidency and a figure not seen in more than 40 years. As of December, the latest figure reported inflation at 6.5%, receding following June’s figure, but still over 3-1/4 times above the Federal Reserve’s target rate of 2%.

Biden continued to sign several massive multi-trillion dollar spending bills into law including the $1.2 trillion bipartisan infrastructure law in November 2021, the $280 Billion CHIPS Act, and the nearly $500 billion Inflation Reduction Act in mid-2022. Runaway government spending and borrowing that has occurred over the last two years of Biden’s presidency have also resulted in real wages not being able to keep up with the outpace of inflation.

According to data compiled by the Heritage Foundation, since the start of Biden’s presidency, the average American has lost $7,200 of annual income due to soaring inflation and the Federal Reserve’s interest rate. Inflation has cost the average American $3,000 in annual purchasing power per year. Additionally, the Fed tightening monetary policy in causing high rates on borrowing costs on mortgages, vehicle loans, and credit cards have reduced Americans’ purchase power by $1,200 annually.

Biden’s remarks come after he seized on the January jobs report in taking a victory lap for the unabashedly good news he claims was a result of his economic agenda. Ahead of his second State of the Union speech next Tuesday, Biden praised the blockbuster data that showed the U.S. economy added 517,000 jobs in January, blowing estimates out of the park with unemployment hitting 3.4%, the lowest level since 1969.

The White House added the last-minute speech to Biden’s schedule to gloat over the January jobs report on Friday morning despite learning the numbers the night before from outgoing National Economic Council Director Brian Deese.

Biden is preparing for his second State of the Union address next Tuesday and an anticipated reelection announcement this spring. The president is expected to tee up the most significant speech of his presidency to a divided Congress by touting his economic policies, highlighting mostly the job gains and the low unemployment rate. However, Biden fails to account during the numerous times he has spoken on past jobs report gains that the pandemic bounce-back played a massive role in such growth.