Buttigieg won't say if American Rescue Plan contributed to inflation: Economists will be 'debating' for years

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Buttigieg won't say if Biden's American Rescue Plan contributed to inflation

Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg wouldn't say if President Biden's American Rescue Plan contributed to inflation but said that economists and historians would be "debating" it for "decades." 

President Biden's Secretary of Transportation, Pete Buttigieg, refused to say Tuesday if the $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan contributed to inflation, instead claiming said that economists would be "debating" it for "decades." 

CNN host Don Lemon asked Buttigieg about the American Rescue Plan and noted that the San Francisco Fed said the plan contributed to inflation in 2021. Lemon said that Biden had blamed Putin and the pandemic, but wondered if some blame should be placed on the plan. 

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Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg takes a question from a reporter at a press briefing at the White House, Friday, April 9, 2021, in Washington. (AP)

Buttigieg defended the American Rescue Plan and added that the country, at the time, was "at risk of economic collapse." 

"It is true right now we have a lot of the issues that are associated with those very low unemployment rates. Right now we have fewer people on unemployment than we’ve had, I think, since 1970. And when that happens, that does create pressures in labor markets. But if you consider the alternative, the possibility that we could have seen the kind of economic collapse that was a very real risk before the American Rescue Plan, there’s no question that that was the right thing to do," the Transportation Secretary said. 

"Understood," Lemon followed up and asked again if it did contribute to inflation like many economists have said. 

WASHINGTON, DC - JUNE 25: U.S. President Joe Biden (L) shakes hands with Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg during an event commemorating LGBTQ+ Pride Month at the White House on June 25, 2021 in Washington, DC. Buttigieg is the first openly gay White House cabinet member in U.S. history. (Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

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"Look, I think historians and economists will be debating the early 2020s and what happened for many years and decades," Buttigieg responded and added that the focus has to be on "the tools that are in our hands that will actually help right now." 

The CNN host also asked if the president's "ultra MAGA" messaging was effective because Americans are feeling the pain right now while he is "in charge."

Buttigieg said that the president has laid out specific policy ideas and Republicans were putting forth "things that are completely out of step with what’s actually going to make a difference here." 

Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg won't say if Joe Biden's American Rescue plan contributed to inflation.  (Screenshot/CNN)

He said that if one side was going to "throw stones and criticize" that they should be "challenged to explain what they would do differently." 

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Biden said during a speech on Tuesday about his plan to combat increased prices that his policies will "help, not hurt" inflation. 

Inflation hit 8.3% in April, which is slightly down from the 8.5% year-over-year inflation in March. Biden was criticized for blaming inflation on Russian President Vladimir Putin and the COVID-19 pandemic.