President Joe Biden is desperately trying to blame Russia for Inflation.
But during a Senate hearing on Wednesday, Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell was asked if the war in Ukraine is a primary driver of Inflation.
Sen. Bill Hagerty (R-Tenn.) asked, āGiven how Inflationās escalated over the last 18 months, would you say that the war in Ukraine is the primary driver of Inflation in America?ā
Powell responded, āNo, Inflation was high certainly before the war in Ukraine broke out.ā
āIām glad to hear you say that,ā Hagerty said, adding, āThe Biden administration seems to be intent on deflecting blame and as recently as just this past Sunday spread the misinformation that Putinās invasion of Ukraine is the ābiggest single driver of Inflation.ā Iām glad you agree with me that that is not the truth.ā
Watch the video below:
As has been well documented, the Biden administration decided that Russia would be a good scapegoat for Inflation.
For months, Biden and his officials have repeated the phrase āPutinās price hikeā or āPutinās tax hike.ā
However, a nifty graph from CBS Newsā āFace The Nationā charts the path of Inflation starting in Feb. 2020.
For most of 2020, Inflation stayed below 2%.
It started to tick up in early 2021 and rose to nearly 8% before Russia launched its invasion of Ukraine. The chart also pointed out when Bidenās COVID-19 spending package was passed, which some economists say helped fuel inflation.
Check out the graph below:
After the invasion, Inflation saw a slight decrease in April before ticking back up in May.
While Biden has tried to blame Putin for Inflation and gas price increases, polls have found that Americans arenāt buying it.
Instead, a majority blame the presidentās policies for Inflation. And a recent I&I/TIPP survey found that even a majority of Democrats blame Biden for Inflation.
Powellās comments surely canāt help convince Americans on the āPutin price hikeā line.
