With inflation seemingly sticking around for a while, the Biden administration has to come up with some spin to make the situation seem better.
Brian Deese, the director of the White House National Economic Council, appeared on CNN on Thursday and tried to sell a positive spin on the latest inflation data.
CNN’s Bianna Golodryga kicked off the segment by noting there is not really a way to “sugar coat” the September inflation report.
Deese tried anyway.
“Inflation is a challenge. It’s a global challenge. And the first and most important point is that the U.S. is in a better and stronger position to take this challenge head-on than virtually any other country in the world,” he said, adding, “That’s in no small part because of the policies that we’ve put in place.”
Additionally, he went on to cheer the news that the annualized inflation rate saw a dip from August to September.
Watch the video below:
Deese: "The U.S. is in a better &stronger position to take [inflation] head on than virtually any other country in the world"
— Washington Free Beacon (@FreeBeacon) October 13, 2022
CNN anchor:"Brian, just telling Americans that things aren’t as bad here as they are around the world really isn’t a reassuring statement at this point." pic.twitter.com/CRZlylYD1L
Still, Deese conceded prices “need to come down faster.”
However, Golodryga shot back, “Brian, just telling Americans that things aren’t as bad here as they are around the world really isn’t a reassuring statement at this point.”
Deese responded by claiming the administration is “making progress” in its effort to bring down prices and added, “We just have to stay at it. We have policies that are going to make a difference. We have policies that have already made a difference. We just have to stay the course.”
WH Chief Gaslighter @BrianDeeseNEC on accelerating inflation: "We're making progress … We just have to – we just have to stay at it. We have policies that are going to make a difference. We have policies that have already made a difference. We just have to stay the course" pic.twitter.com/3Rc3ZdIwEy
— Tom Elliott (@tomselliott) October 13, 2022
Annualized inflation was 8.2% in September, down from 8.3% in August. So in that sense, there has been a little bit of progress.
But prices increased month-to-month by .6%. Additionally, the so-called core inflation rate rose 6.6% in September from a year ago, which was the largest leap since 1982.
Since interest rate hikes and other measures have failed to dent price increases, the administration’s response seems to be: Hey, it’s not as bad as it could be.
In a September interview, President Joe Biden tried to tout the fact inflation “hasn’t spiked.”
But 8% inflation is not normal. Those are real price increases hitting Americans’ wallets that they are feeling. And essentially telling them, “Cheer up, it could be worse. We could be Germany with nearly 11% inflation. Just hang in there,” probably is not doing what they think it will.
