White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre audibly sighed as she defended President Joe Biden’s economic stewardship, saying he and his administration are “incredibly focused” on the economy.
Jean-Pierre was confronted Monday about the latest discouraging economic data, including the sliding stock market and persistent inflation, which have become major drags on Biden’s job approval rating in an election year.
“So, we know that — that higher prices are having a real effect,” Jean-Pierre responded. “We get that.”
WHITE HOUSE TALKS UP ‘HISTORIC’ ECONOMY AS INFLATION-WEARY VOTERS DOUBT BIDEN
“We are incredibly focused on doing everything that we can to make sure that the economy is working for every American,” she said.
Inflation is currently running at a 41-year high, with gasoline and food prices especially high. The S&P 500 fell into bear market territory on Monday morning. Interest rates are set to rise.
The White House has repeatedly maintained that the strong foundation of economic growth and low unemployment has kept the country well-positioned to combat inflation. But GDP actually shrank in the first quarter of this year, and the Federal Reserve has begun hiking interest rates. If the economy falls into a recession, unemployment is unlikely to remain low. Joblessness spiked to 10.8% during the 1982 recession as the Fed wrung the last period of stubbornly high inflation out of the economy.
The Nasdaq index is now down more than 31% from the start of the year. The Dow Jones Industrial Average has not yet entered a bear market, but it was down about 2.5% on Monday and 16.3% since the start of the year.
“As you say that Americans are well-positioned to weather this … what is the president’s message to somebody who might want to retire, but their 401(k) is getting wiped out?” asked Fox News’s Peter Doocy.
That’s when Jean-Pierre defended Biden’s handling of the economy, crediting the nearly $2 trillion American Rescue Plan with recent growth and job creation. She noted that not a single Republican in Congress voted for the measure, which was passed through the reconciliation process to avoid a Senate filibuster or GOP input.
“And that also led to historic inflation?” Doocy followed up, in reference to economists blaming the American Rescue Plan, which was enacted after multiple stimulus bills during the previous administration, for injecting trillions of dollars into the economy. Former Treasury Secretary Larry Summers, a top economic adviser to Democratic former Presidents Bill Clinton and Barack Obama, had warned Biden about inflation and economic overheating.
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Economic stumbles have coincided with a decline in Biden’s popularity. On Monday, the president’s job approval rating was below 40% in both the RealClearPolitics and FiveThirtyEight polling averages. Jean-Pierre was also asked about these poll numbers.
“The president is focused on delivering for the American people,” Jean-Pierre replied. “That’s his focus.”
