CNBC host Joe Kernen confronted Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg on “Squawk Box” Friday, challenging Biden administration claims about falling inflation.
Kernen pointed out that the White House initially claimed that inflation was a global phenomenon for which President Joe Biden deserved zero blame, but then took a victory lap when inflation dropped.
“Now that it’s coming down it’s like, ‘Look what I did, I brought inflation down.’ That doesn’t make no sense, it’s not logically consistent,” Kernen said.
“I don’t think that’s quite fair for a couple for reasons,” Buttigieg answered. “First of all, these international comparisons, yes, we pointed out that inflation in the United States was not something that was just happening in the United States, it was happening around the world. But, we also pointed out all the ways that we were doing better than a lot of our peers around the world.”
The transportation secretary touted economic growth as being stronger in the U.S. in comparison to other countries and drew attention to the solutions the administration implemented to fix inflation. He credited the Inflation Reduction Act with reducing inflation, although a budget model posted by the University of Pennsylvania Wharton claimed that the legislation will not actually reduce inflation.
Kernen then pushed Buttigieg on the “benefit” of the Inflation Reduction Act, suggesting Americans have not witnessed the relief the legislation promised. Buttigieg answered that some of the IRA’s effects will not be evident in the short term, but that the administration is working through other means to bring prices down. He specifically pointed to the Department of Transportation’s efforts to tackle supply chain issues, such as shipping costs. (RELATED: ‘Wouldn’t It Be Better To Be Honest?’: CNBC Host Grills Buttigieg On Admin’s ‘Tone Deaf’ Inflation Celebration)
The Biden administration repeatedly blamed Russian President Vladimir Putin for the rise in gas prices, which jumped after Russia invaded Ukraine. Gas prices, however, were already on the rise in the U.S. due to Biden’s cancellation of the Keystone XL Pipeline and his halting of new federal leases for oil companies hoping to drill on federal lands.