Republican Louisiana Sen. John Kennedy said passing Democrats’ Build Back Better Act will raise inflation to 20% Thursday.
In an interview with Fox News, host Harris Faulkner noted that consumer prices soared 7.5% in January, a 435% increase from 2021 and the largest increase since February 1982. She also pointed out that the average gas price rose to $3.48 per gallon, $1.00 more than the average price a year ago.
“As I’ve said to you before, Harris, I like President Biden,” Kennedy responded. “I’m just not sure we can afford him. So far, the best evidence of the existence of the Biden administration has been the damage they leave in their wake. Exhibit A is inflation. It’s the most pernicious tax imaginable. It waterboards middle Americans and those among us who are at the lower end of the wage scale. It’s not complicated. We told President Biden when he passed with all Democratic support, no Republicans, his $1.9 trillion emergency COVID bill which had nothing to do with COVID.”
“It has more to do with crack pots,” Kennedy continued. “We said, ‘If you do that, we don’t need it, it’s going to cause inflation.’ It did. And now, as I’ve said before, President Biden wants to stuff more diapers down the toilet. He wants to pass the Build Back Better bill which is $5 trillion. We’ve got too much money chasing too few goods. And if he passes Build Back Better, we’ll have 20% inflation.”
The senator said Democratic economists have warned the Biden administration of the possibility of entering a recession. (RELATED: ‘It’s Ravaging Our People’: John Kennedy Holds Nothing Back With Powell, Yellen Over Skyrocketing Inflation)
The Consumer Price Index (CPI) soared 0.6% in January, marking a 7.5% rise on a year-to-year growth basis. The numbers exceeded economists’ predictions of a 7.2% increase.
Democratic West Virginia Sen. Joe Manchin cited inflation and the national debt as problematic reasons for passing the Build Back Better bill. The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) estimated that the Build Back Better Act will add $367 billion to the national debt in a report released in November.