Jared Bernstein, the chair of the Council of Economic Advisers, faced significant challenges in elucidating the reasons behind President Joe Biden’s persistent misrepresentation of the initial inflation rate upon assuming office.
Despite the actual inflation rate being 1.4%, Biden has consistently asserted that it stood at 9% to support his narrative of a successful economic plan.
Fox News host Neil Cavuto asked:
“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 completely dodged the question, instead saying Biden talks “about how concerned he was for households struggling with prices.”
However, he quickly interrupted:
“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