Fox News White House Correspondent Peter Doocy asked White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre on Monday if anybody approves of the administration’s handling of inflation.
Doocy asked the press secretary why inflation is continuing to skyrocket despite President Joe Biden continuously promising to tackle the issue. Jean-Pierre expressed the administration’s understanding of the American people’s frustrations and warned that Republicans are going to make inflation worse by repealing the Inflation Reduction Act and CHIPS Act.
“The president understands, and we’ve talked about this many times, that inflation is an issue. High costs, costs, is an issue for the American people and so he’s been very clear about making that his number one economic priority,” Jean-Pierre said. “And he has done the work, and he’s done the work with congressional Democrats when you think about the Inflation Reduction Act which is going to lower the cost for our seniors, millions and millions of seniors across the country. When you think about that $2,000 cap on their own Medicare prescription, when you think about the thousands of dollars that our seniors pay a month, now that’s going to be $2,000 a year.”
“That is the work that congressional Democrats and the president has done. Republicans did not vote for that at all and what Republicans want to do is that they want to repeal that very historic piece of legislation that is also going to lower energy costs, that is also going to help fight climate change. They want to get rid of it. So there is a contrast that we are going to make which is how Republicans are actually going to make things worse and Democrats want to do the opposite and make things a little easier,” she continued.
“But, who exactly think the president is doing a good job on inflation because we’ve got a new poll that finds he receives his lowest job ratings on inflation at -38 points,” Doocy said.
The press secretary reiterated that the president is working to lower the costs of gas, Medicare and healthcare. She then accused Republicans of refusing to work alongside the president to ease the burden of high costs on Americans. (RELATED: Doocy Presses Jean-Pierre On Claims That Inflation Is Worse Everywhere Else Around The Globe)
“Republicans in Congress refuse, they refuse to be partners with us on this,” she answered. “They refuse to help us. You think about the American Rescue Plan that has helped create an economy that is indeed resilient, that created jobs, they refuse to help.”
The Fox News reporter pointed out a general consensus held by most economists that the American Rescue Plan “has contributed” to inflation. She referred Doocy to Treasury Department Janet Yellen’s scheduled statement on these reports, then argued that the pieces of legislation passed by the Biden administration are “popular with the American people.”
“They are popular. They are popular with the American people,” she said. “They understand, the American people understand what these pieces of legislation that we have worked so hard to get across the line, that are now law, is going to change lives of the American people. Now, is there work to be done? There’s always more work to be done but we are taking the steps to do that. Again, congressional Republicans, they are doing nothing, absolutely nothing. They want to repeal, they want to take away the advances we have made.”
The Consumer Price Index (CPI) indicated that inflation rose 8.2% year-over-year in September. The issue has remained a prioritized issue among the majority of potential voters in the midterm elections.