In an attempt to address public dissatisfaction with the economy during a brief interview with Yahoo Finance, Joe Biden once again falsely claimed that the annual US inflation rate was 9% when he took office in January 2021, despite the actual rate being 1.4% at that time and not surpassing 9% until 17 months into his term.
When asked why families don’t feel “wealthy” right now, the 81-year-old president stated, “I think inflation has gone slightly up. It was at 9% when I came in and it’s now down to about 3%,” which is illogical. “But the fact is, I think people are just uncertain. And that’s why we got to be steady, stay the course and continue to produce these incredible job [sic],” he added.
Biden further claimed, “And by the way, the pay for the jobs are outpacing the inflation rate that they’re paying. We’re gonna be able to deal with this. It’s gonna take a little more time, but we’re just focused on it.”
However, contrary to the president’s claim, median weekly wages have not kept up with the worst inflation in a generation, according to the latest quarterly data published by the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Biden had also wrongly stated, “inflation ‘was 9% when I came to office'” during an interview with CNN host Erin Burnett last Wednesday, even though the annual inflation rate did not exceed that threshold until June 2022, an increase not seen since the early 1980s.
The president has consistently sought to shift blame for inflation over the past several months, saying, “Do I take any blame for inflation? No, because it was already there when I got here, man.”
The White House has attempted to attribute inflation to factors such as COVID-19-induced supply chain disruptions and Russia’s February 2022 invasion of Ukraine, while Biden critics point to large spending bills passed in the first months of his term.
Economic frustrations over prices and high interest rates are hampering Biden’s bid for a second term ahead of an anticipated rematch against former President Donald Trump in November.