A hot inflation report put President Joe Biden in the hot seat on Wednesday afternoon as he defended his “Bidenomics” record.
Biden held a joint press conference with the prime minister of Japan and was asked by a reporter if he still predicted the Federal Reserve would cut interest rates despite inflation rising more than expected for three straight months.
“I do stand by my prediction that before the year is out, there will be a rate cut,” Biden said. “This may delay it a month or so. I’m not sure of that. We don’t know what the Fed is going to do for certain. But look, we have dramatically reduced inflation from 9% down to close to 3%.”
But inflation rose to 3.5% for the year ending in March, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported Wednesday in an update to the consumer price index.
That complicates the situation for the Fed, which is looking to cut rates from a two-decade high of 5.25% to 5.5%. It also complicates things for Biden, who is pushing the Bidenomics message as he seeks reelection.
Inflation stood at 1.4% the month Biden took office and then skyrocketed to 9.1% in June 2022 before falling to 3% a year later. But it has been stuck near that still-elevated rate since. The president’s critics have dubbed the phenomenon “Bidenflation.”
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Biden tends to point to rising employment rather than inflation, saying that “we’re better situated” than when he took office.
“We have a plan to deal with it,” the president said on Wednesday. “Whereas my opposition talks about two things — they just want to cut taxes for the wealthy and raise taxes on other people. So, I think they have no plan. Our plan is one I think is still sustainable.”
