Donna Brazile on Inflation Concerns: ‘Be a Smart Shopper’

Democratic strategist Donna Brazile said Sunday on ABC’s “This Week” offered her advice for those struggling with the inflationary pressures on the American economy: be smart shoppers.

Partial transcript as follows:

STEPHANOPOULOS: And, Chris, one of the things the White House is counting on, that if they are able to pass this bipartisan — well, it’s the bipartisan infrastructure bill takes hold, and if they are able to pass Build Back Better, the economy will show more benefits across the board by the midterms.

CHRISTIE: See, the problem, George, is that — let me give you a couple of examples of what normal people really care about. I mean, first, they go to the gas station, and as much as the Biden administration is against fossil fuels, until further notice we’re going to be using them. And they reason they don’t open up the strategic reserves is because they don’t want to expose themselves on the far left green flank. And so they don’t want to do that because that would be encouraging fossil fuels, God forbid. So they go to the gas station and the prices are way too high.

I will tell you something, my wife just told me three days ago. She walked in from the supermarket and she picked up a big pack of toilet paper and she said to me, do you know how much this costs me today? $29. $29.

BRAZILE: Did so go to Costco?

CHRISTIE: She wasn’t at Costco. She was at the supermarket.

But here’s the thing, normal people who go out there and they see they’re paying $29 for that, guess who they’re blaming? They’re blaming Joe Biden.

STEPHANOPOULOS: It’s those supply chain issues.

BRAZILE: Oh, God, inflation has been going up for the last three years. I go to — I go to Safeway —

CHRISTIE: Come on, Donna.

BRAZILE: I go — look, look, you’ve got to be —

CHRISTIE: Not 6 percent (ph).

BRAZILE: Look, you — you’ve got to be smart when you go out and shop today, OK, whether you’re looking for Jiffy cornbread, which used to be three for $1 and it went up to 87 cents, or if you’re buying gas. And if you’re buying it in the inner city, it’s 10 cents more than if you go out just further out.

George, the pain —

CHRISTIE: Well, is that — wait, is that the Democratic slogan?

BRAZILE: No.

CHRISTIE: We’re going to raise your prices, but be smart about it. It could be a little bit less?

BRAZILE: No, where your — you mentioned Mary Pat —

CHRISTIE: Run on that.

BRAZILE: You mentioned Mary Pat.

COASTON: Coupons.

BRAZILE: I’m just telling you my experience with shopping. You’ve got to be a smart shopper. My mom had nine children and she always said, you had to make grocery (ph).

Look, George, the bottom line is tomorrow Joe Biden will sign a very historic piece of legislation. I pray and hope that in addition to giving a pen to Nancy and to Chuck and Manchin that he give it to Bill Cassidy and those 13 Republicans in the House who are now facing death threats because they want to fix their roads, they want to fix their bridges and they want broadband for their kids.

Follow Pam Key on Twitter @pamkeyNEN