President Biden admitted Thursday that Democrats’ signature Inflation Reduction Act wasn’t as much about actually reducing the then-record-high inflation facing the nation as he originally touted to the American people.
“I wish I hadn’t called it that. It has less to do with reducing inflation than it does providing for alternatives that generate economic growth,” Biden said during an appearance at a campaign fundraiser in Park City, Utah according to the press pool report.
“And so, we’re now in a situation where if you take a look at what we’re doing in the Inflation Reduction Act, we’re literally reducing the cost of people being able to make their — meet their basic needs,” Biden said.
“Even when there is inflation there is a way to provide breathing room,” he added, citing negotiating medical prices as one example.
MANCHIN BACKTRACKS, DOWNPLAYS INVOLVEMENT IN INFLATION REDUCTION ACT AFTER CLAIMING HE ‘WROTE’ IT
President Joe Biden speaks during an event in the East Room of the White House in Washington, DC, US, on Tuesday, July 25, 2023. (Ting Shen/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
Biden’s comments are a sharp turn from what he said in July 2022 ahead of the Inflation Reduction Act’s passage through Congress on a party line vote.
“The Inflation Reduction Act is the strongest bill you can pass. It will lower inflation, cut the deficit, reduce health care costs, tackle the climate crisis, and promote energy security,” he said.
The White House did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment.
At the time, as the country faced an inflation rate near the highest level in 40 years, multiple analyzes said the bill would not reduce inflation. The Congressional Budget Office said the bill will have “a negligible effect” on inflation in 2022, and in 2023 its impact would range between reducing inflation by 0.1% and increasing it by 0.1%.
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Fox News’ Kaitlin Sprague and Brooke Singman contributed to this report.
