Jared Bernstein, the chair of the Council of Economic Advisers, was hard-pressed to explain why President Joe Biden continues to misrepresent what the rate of inflation was when he first took office.
Biden has repeatedly claimed inflation was at 9% when he first entered the White House to claim his economic plan is working when, in fact, it was 1.4%.
During an interview on Fox Business on Thursday, he was asked by host Neil Cavuto, “Do you ever whisper in his ear, ‘Mr. President, just to be technical about it, it wasn’t 9% when you assumed office, it was 1.4%. It got as high as 9% in 2022, you brought it down from that. But it was never ever, ever, ever 9% when you came into office.’?”
Bernstein responded by dodging the question to state Biden talks “about how concerned he was for households struggling with prices.”
However, Cavuto interjected, “That’s not what I asked you. Why does he keep misrepresenting this?’
“He’s making the point that the factors that caused inflation to climb to 9% were in place when he took office,” Bernstein claimed.
But Cavuto corrected him, “No, that’s not what he said. He said it was at 9%. It would eventually get to 9% a little over a year after that.”
“So if I can’t trust him with quoting data in real time, why should I believe what he’s talking about now?” he asked.
Watch the video below:
CAVUTO: Why does Biden keep claiming inflation was 9% when he took office — when it was actually 1.4%?
— RNC Research (@RNCResearch) May 16, 2024
BERNSTEIN: "The president talked about how concerned he was for households struggling with prices."
CAVUTO: "That's not what I asked you. Why does he keep misrepresenting… pic.twitter.com/lMaKNfeSOV
Bernstein then claimed that in the “second quarter of ’21,” the annualized rate of inflation “was, in fact, about 9%.”
However, Cavuto interjected again to say, “No it wasn’t. It was not at that. So you’re almost as bad as he is. So why can’t you just say, ‘It was high, got as high as 9%’ — You’d be accurate in saying that — ‘And we have now brought it down and we’re struggling at around the 3%, but it’s better than it was.'”
“But instead to hang it on his predecessor that you inherited something that was through the roof when we were in the middle of Covid, it just seems to the American people — whether you’re a Republican or Democrat — you’re lying! You’re just lying!” he added.
Bernstein reiterated his claim that Biden was stating the factors that brought inflation to 9% were in place when he took office.
Still, Cavuto pointed out that is not what the president has been saying, and asked again when why he will not correct the president.
