NPR’s Ordonez: Inflation Number ‘a Wrench’ Into Biden’s Economic Message, He ‘Would Rather Be Talking about So Many Other Things’

On Tuesday’s broadcast of CNN’s “Inside Politics,” NPR White House Correspondent Franco Ordoñez stated that the August Consumer Price Index (CPI) numbers are “a wrench” in President Joe Biden’s plan to “turn this liability of the economy into a positive.” And Biden “doesn’t want the focus to be” on the August CPI number, “He would rather be talking about so many other things.”

Ordoñez stated, “I mean, it was kind of a wrench into his plans to kind of to turn this liability of the economy into a positive. I mean, they’ve been touting gas prices going down for so long. But, obviously, so many other prices are going up, electricity, food, etc. I mean, I’m very interested to see how this plays out this afternoon when he talks on the South Lawn about the Inflation Reduction Act. You know reporters are going to be asking about this, and he doesn’t want the focus to be on that. He would rather be talking about so many other things.”

He later added that with the potential for a rail strike later this week, “it could be really a tough week for the President this week.”

Follow Ian Hanchett on Twitter @IanHanchett