On Tuesday’s broadcast of CNN’s “The Lead,” White House National Economic Council Director Brian Deese responded to host Jake Tapper pushing back on claims that inflation is solely the fault of Russia by stating that “in March, the predominance of the increase was because of gas prices and that is because of Putin’s invasion. Two-thirds of the increase in March was a result of that.”
Deese said, “Well, look, what we saw in March was a really elevated inflation number, and it’s got the word ‘Ukraine’ all over it. Two-thirds of the increase in March was, I think, the price of gas at the pump. And, as you know, Jake, that is being driven by Putin’s invasion of Ukraine and the Russian oil coming off the market. What the president is doing is exactly that, responding boldly and in an unprecedented way. The good news is, since the height of the gas prices in March, we’ve seen gas prices come down and a big part of the reason is the president mandated a release from our Strategic Petroleum Reserve of a million barrels a day of oil onto the market. That’s an action that we could take and that we galvanized the international community to put another 60 million barrels on the market as well. That’s had some downward pressure on oil prices. And you saw the president, again, today taking action on ethanol and E15. So, you’re seeing a president that is focused on keeping an international coalition resolved to do what is necessary to counter Putin’s actions in Ukraine, while doing everything that we can to protect consumers here at home and that’s what he’s going to continue to do.”
Tapper then stated, “Obviously, the war in Ukraine is driving up fuel prices, nobody disputes that. But we were covering inflation long before Putin invaded Ukraine. Inflation in the United States in the last year is — preceded this attack. And some people hear the president and the White House blaming all of this on Putin and think, that’s just not accurate, that’s just not factual.”
Deese responded, “No, let’s be very factual. What I said was, in March, the predominance of the increase was because of gas prices and that is because of Putin’s invasion. Two-thirds of the increase in March was a result of that. But, at the same time, inflation is high in the United States. It’s high around the world. We are hitting record inflation numbers in the E.U. and globally. We are — the president and we are very focused on what we can do practically to bring price increases down while also sustaining a strong recovery in the United States. That’s the president’s focus. And it’s what he’s calling on Congress to do as well.”
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