President Biden defended his administration by Insist on low inflation And that the “red states” were ruining their economies.
Biden sat down with MSNBC host Lawrence O'Donnell for the final interview of his administration before officially leaving office on Monday. The two discussed many topics, including Biden's handling of the economy and the risks of inflation.
The president dismissed criticism of his handling of inflation by claiming that the alternative is job losses.
President Biden discussed many topics surrounding his administration with MSNBC host Lawrence O'Donnell. (MSNBC screenshot)
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Dismiss warnings from Economists like Larry Summers That his coronavirus stimulus spending would cause more inflation, Biden otherwise claimed that “the only way to deal with inflation is to create unemployment and another recession.”
“But guess what? I was completely convinced. Give the American people half a chance. They will step up and get the job done if you give them the chance. Look what they did. They stepped up in every major endeavor.” He said. “I never believed we wouldn't be able to have a soft landing. We had a soft landing. Inflation fell to almost 2%, and a lot of things happened.”
The Labor Department said on Wednesday Inflation increased by 2.9% in December, up from 2.7% in November, the highest rate since July 2024.
Biden went on to claim that red states “got it wrong” on their own and needed more investment in them than blue states.
“And look, the other thing is, Lawrence, I've gotten a lot of criticism. And that's understandable. We've invested more in the red states than the blue states… for two reasons. One, the red states have really failed in terms of the way they've handled their issues.” “The economy and the way they deal with manufacturing, the way they deal with access to supply chains,” Biden said.
A majority of Americans still rate the economy as only “fair” or “poor” in a new Fox News poll. (Photo by: Ting Chen/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
Reports have found this Republican-led states Such as Florida and Texas recovered much more quickly than blue states after the pandemic.
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A New Fox News poll Thursday showed nearly twice as many people believe the Biden administration has made the economy worse rather than better, 52% versus 28%. In addition, nearly all voters, 89%, say they are either very or very concerned about inflation — up from 83% at the beginning of Biden's term.
Inflation rose 2.9% in December, up 0.2% from November, according to the Labor Department. (stock)
70% of voters say the economy is in poor shape, with six in 10 Democrats agreeing that the economy was fair or in poor shape.
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Fox News' Dana Blanton contributed to this report.
