'Who Exactly Thinks the President Is Doing a Good Job on Inflation?' Jean-Pierre's Answer (October 17, 2022)

On October 17, 2022, three weeks before the midterm elections, the government’s most recent report showed consumer prices 8.2 percent higher than a year earlier [2]. At the White House briefing that day, a reporter asked Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre who thought President Biden was doing a good job on inflation, citing a new poll that he said gave Biden his lowest job ratings on the issue. This short clip shows her answer. Quotes are from the official transcript published by the American Presidency Project [1].

Key Moments

”Who exactly thinks the President is doing a good job on inflation?”

Just before the question, Jean-Pierre had been describing the Inflation Reduction Act’s cap on seniors’ out-of-pocket prescription drug costs (“Now, that’s going to be $2,000 a year”) and new over-the-counter hearing aids, which she said would “help 30 million — 30 million Americans across the country,” and arguing that Republicans wanted to repeal the law. “So, there is a contrast that we are going to make,” she said, “which is how Republicans are actually going to make things worse and Democrats want to do the opposite and make things a little easier.” The reporter then asked: “But who exactly thinks the President is doing a good job on inflation? Because we’ve got a new poll that finds he receives his lowest job ratings on inflation — net negative 38 points” [1].

”We understand that there are challenges”

“We understand that there are challenges that are in front of us here in this country,” Jean-Pierre answered. “That is why the President has taken action to lower costs. Think about gas prices. You think about healthcare — healthcare premiums. You think about Medicare — again, beating special interests so that we can lower costs, so Medicare can actually be able to lower costs for senior citizens.” She then turned to Congress: “Republicans — Republicans in Congress refuse — they refuse to be partners with us on this. They refuse to help us. If you think about the American Rescue Plan that has helped create an economy that is indeed resilient, that created jobs, they refused to help out” [1].

”Has contributed to inflation?”

The reporter followed up: “Have the President’s economic advisors told him that the general consensus now is that the American Rescue Plan has contributed to inflation?” Jean-Pierre deferred to the Treasury secretary: “Look, Secretary Yellen — who is incredibly well respected, as you know, in the economic space — has spoken to this. So I will leave her words speak to that.” She went on to say that the administration’s laws on Medicare, health care, energy costs and semiconductors “are popular.” “When?” the reporter asked. “Now, is there a work — is there work — work to be done? There’s always more work to be done,” she said. “Again, congressional Republicans, they are doing nothing — absolutely nothing” [1].

”We’d love to have the President come”

Three weeks before the midterms, a reporter listed where Biden had been. “He’s giving a speech tomorrow in D.C. He’s given fundraisers in New Jersey and New York. He campaigned with Democratic governor candidates in Massachusetts and Maryland,” the reporter said. “There’s a White House Office of Political Affairs. Have they been getting phone calls from candidates in some of those other states — Arizona, Nevada, Georgia, Wisconsin, Michigan — to say, ‘We’d love to have the President come’?” [1]

“Look, I don’t have any calls to read out. We don’t have any calls or personal conversations to read out,” Jean-Pierre said. “Look, he’s going to go where he is needed the most.” [1]

Background: Inflation in the Fall of 2022

Consumer price inflation had peaked at 9.1 percent in June 2022, “the largest 12-month increase since the period ending November 1981,” according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics [8]. By September it had eased only to 8.2 percent [2]. Gasoline was the exception: the national average for regular gasoline had fallen from $5.006 a gallon in the week of June 13, the highest in the Energy Information Administration’s weekly records going back to 1990, to $3.871 in the week of October 17 [4]. Most Americans were unconvinced that Washington was doing enough. In a CNN poll conducted by SSRS from September 3 to October 5, 73 percent said the government was doing too little to reduce inflation [3].

Fact Check

The “net negative 38” poll. The reporter did not name it, and we could not identify the figure. The CNN poll released October 12 found that “just 32% of the public approves of his handling of inflation (up from 25% in summer),” lower than his 44 percent overall approval [3].
“Think about gas prices.” Gas prices had fallen by more than $1.10 a gallon since June [4]; the administration credited its own actions, including releases from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve. (See our article on the reserve releases.)
The American Rescue Plan and inflation. The reporter’s premise had support. A March 2022 analysis by the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco estimated that pandemic-era fiscal support “may have contributed to about 3 percentage points of the rise in U.S. inflation through the end of 2021” [5]. Jean-Pierre did not say whether Biden’s advisers had told him that.
“An economy that is indeed resilient, that created jobs.” The job market was strong. The unemployment rate was 3.5 percent in September 2022 [9].

For other statements by Jean-Pierre that the record contradicted, see our article on her “$70 per gallon” mistake and other statements of hers that proved wrong.

What Happened Next

The midterms: On November 8, Republicans, “focusing on the rising costs of groceries and gas,” won a slim House majority of at least 218 seats, according to NPR, while Democrats kept the Senate with 50 seats and Vice President Harris’s tiebreaking vote [6][7].
Inflation: The 12-month inflation rate fell to 6.4 percent by January 2023 and to 3.0 percent by June 2023 [10][11].