On Friday’s “CNN Newsroom,” co-host Victor Blackwell stated that the case on the economy that the White House is making “really isn’t reconciled with the facts of what people are facing.”
White House Communications Director Kate Bedingfield stated, “We’ve seen incredible signs of progress. I mean, actually, inflation has been effectively flat over the last two months. And what you’ve seen from President Biden and Congressional Democrats is they’re advancing an agenda that’s bringing down costs. We passed a bill that’s going to lower the cost of prescription drugs. That’s something that Washington has been trying and failing to do for decades. We’ve passed a bill that’s going to lower the cost of health care, that’s going to lower your energy costs. And we’ve seen gas prices continue to drop for 14 consecutive weeks, gas prices are coming down. So, President Biden looks at a family budget and thinks about what can I do to reduce costs? And, across the board, we’re seeing costs on the things that people rely on, like health care, like gas prices, we’re seeing it come down. And he’s going to continue to push.”
Blackwell said, “So, a couple of things, gas prices are no longer coming down. They were for 98 days, but for the last three, they are now ticking back up. When you say that inflation has been flat for the last couple of months, minor increases, but year-over-year, it’s still disappointingly high, more than 8% in August. The Fed just raised interest rates by 75 basis points for the third time, another increase likely coming right before the election. Home sales are down year-to-year. Mortgage rates are up. The economic case that you’re making really isn’t reconciled with the facts of what people are facing.”
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