White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre is under scrutiny after she attempted to defend the Inflation Reduction Act following news that inflation rose by 8.3 percent in August.
During Tuesday’s press briefing, reporters pressed Jean-Pierre about the leftist-backed reconciliation bill in light of the Dow Jones Industrial Average dropping that afternoon.
“Look, experts economists have said themselves that … the Inflation Reduction Act would be beneficial to let three hundred, the extra three hundred billion dollars in deficit,” she responded. “That is really important as we have right now $1.7 billion in deficit reduction under this administration. It would help lower that even more, which is incredibly important.”
“And so, look, we’ve heard from Republicans and Democrats who [were] U.S. Treasury secretaries who said it would lower inflation. We’ve heard from more than 126 economists said it would lower inflation,” she added.
Jean-Pierre’s remarks sparked anger from Twitter users, who attacked the press secretary’s defense of the bill, as well as its green energy subsidies as food prices skyrocketed.
“She’s completely worthless, especially when she’s not directly reading out of the binder,” Washington Times columnist Tim Young remarked.
“Karine Jean-Pierre now bragging about how much good the Inflation Reduction Act has ‘already done’ just hours after the government announced that inflation increased — more than expected — in August as food costs jumped more in the last 12 months than at any time since 1979,” wrote Townhall.com managing editor Spencer Brown.
President Joe Biden was also attacked for celebrating the passing of the Inflation Reduction Act after the release of the inflation report.
“Joe Biden is the most out-of-touch president of my lifetime. He looks like a fool celebrating his reckless spending spree while prices continue to rise and the stock market is tanking,” said Republican Minnessotta Rep. Tom Emmer in a statement.
During the celebration, Biden was joined by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, who each hailed the bill as a solution to the soaring inflation.
“[The Inflation Reduction Act is] the single most important legislation passed in the Congress to combat inflation and one of the most significant laws in our nation’s history,” the president said.
