FACT CHECK: Biden Calls Inflation ‘World Drawback’ Brought on by ‘Putin’s Struggle’

In his second State of the Union tackle, President Joe Biden spoke Tuesday night time about inflation, which has risen steeply throughout his presidency.

“Inflation has been a world drawback due to the pandemic that disrupted provide chains and Putin’s struggle that disrupted power and meals provides,” Biden mentioned, referring to Russian President Vladimir Putin’s Feb. 24 invasion of Ukraine.

Though it’s true that inflation has hit different nations’ economies, it didn’t begin within the U.S. originally of the COVID-19 pandemic, nor did it start throughout Russia’s struggle on Ukraine. The president’s description of the inflation drawback is deceptive at greatest.

When Biden was sworn into workplace Jan. 20, 2021, inflation stood at 1.4%. Because it started to rise in 2021, Biden known as excessive inflation a “transitory” concern. By June of the subsequent 12 months, inflation hit 9.1, a 40-year excessive.

The speed of inflation improve has slowed, nevertheless it stays a big drawback that’s eroding the financial savings of Individuals.

“Whereas the speed of worth will increase has actually slowed in current months, as authorities deficit-spending additionally slowed and the Federal Reserve hiked rates of interest, costs are nonetheless up about 14% beneath Biden,” wrote EJ Antoni, an economics professional at The Heritage Basis. “That’s considerably greater than the rise in common earnings.” (The Every day Sign is Heritage’s multimedia information group.)

Actually, as Antoni additionally wrote in November, the common American household misplaced over $7,000 due to inflation beneath Biden.

The Inflation Discount Act, signed by Biden in 2022, has executed little to cut back inflation. Actually, it principally added to the federal government spending.

Right here’s what Biden mentioned that laws was about in his speech: