CNBC host presses Biden economic adviser about why White House continues to deflect inflation blame
CNBC's Joe Kernen pressed Heather Boushey, a member of the Council of Economic Advisers, about how the Biden administration continues to deflect the inflation blame.
CNBC "Squawk Box" host Joe Kernen pressed White House Council of Economic Advisers member Heather Boushey about how the Biden administration continues to "reject any blame" for high inflation.
"The administration, Biden Administration, usually rejects any blame for the highest inflation that we were just talking about in 40 years, blaming it on supply chain issues from the pandemic yet at the same time, again, you take credit for creating 10 million jobs, which was a direct result of reopening after the pandemic you also take credit for reducing the deficit by $1.7 trillion, never acknowledging it was simply from not spending those emergency sums that we spent dealing with that pandemic, which you’re admitting caused the inflation, I guess, but had nothing to do with these other two factors," Kernen said. "It seems like you want to have it both ways."
Boushey said that the economy wasn't doing well when Biden came into office.
"This president put in place a set of policies that fixed the economy, put it on a better path, got jobs back. We created almost 10 million jobs under the president’s watch. That is an historic and impressive accomplishment that has been delivering for people around the country," she said.
CNBC host Joe Kernen pressed White House economic adviser Heather Boushey about inflation. (Screenshot/CNBC/SquawkBox)
She added that the U.S. was not the only country struggling to bounce back from the COVID-19 pandemic.
"We’re not the only country that struggled with supply chains inflation is a global phenomena, as are the high oil prices. But here’s the thing, this president has done what he could to bring down gas prices as fast as he can. I believe today is day 97 or maybe yesterday was day 97 of straight declines in gas prices nationwide they’re down by 27% now," she continued.
Biden and his administration consistently blamed high gas prices on Russian President Vladimir Putin and the war in Ukraine as the price of gas hit $5 per gallon over the summer. Democrats and members of the administration were calling it the "Putin price hike."
The president sat down for an interview that aired over the weekend with CBS News' Scott Pelley that aired on "60 Minutes" on Sunday.
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President Biden joined CBS News' Scott Pelley for an interview that aired on Sunday. (Screenshot/CBSNews/60Minutes)
Pelley asked what the administration could be doing better in responding to inflation.
"Well, first of all, let's put this in perspective. Inflation rate month to month was just-- just an inch, hardly at all," Biden said. Pelley added that it was the highest inflation rate in 40 years.
"I got that. But guess what we are. We're in a position where, for the last several months, it hasn't spiked. It has just barely-- it's been basically even. And in the meantime, we created all these jobs and-- and prices-- have-- have gone up, but they've come down for energy. The fact is that we've created 10 million new jobs. We're in-- since we came to office. We're in a situation where the-- the unemployment rate is about 3.7%. One of the lowest in history. We're in a situation where manufacturing is coming back to the United States in a big way. And look down the road, we have mas-- massive investments being made in computer chips and-- and employment. So, I-- look, this is a process. This is a process."
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U.S. President Joe Biden departs from Holy Spirit Catholic Church after attending Mass on St. Johns Island, South Carolina, U.S., August 13, 2022. (REUTERS/Joshua Roberts)
CNBC host Andrew Ross Sorkin asked Boushey about the president's comments.
"I believe what the president said was that he is working to get inflation under control, and it is good news that the monthly numbers have not been increasing at a rapid rate over the past couple months. It’s good to see that slowing," she said.
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