During an interview with NBC News on Monday broadcast on Monday’s edition of MSNBC’s “The 11th Hour,” Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen responded to criticisms that the government has spent too much money by stating that people “know that they got the support they needed to get through a horrible pandemic.” And stated that President Joe Biden’s economic team did “the best we could” and urged people to “look around the world and look at how the U.S. is doing in comparison with all of our advanced country counterparts where inflation is also extremely high.”
MSNBC host and NBC News Senior Business Analyst Stephanie Ruhle asked, “[T]here’s lots of criticism that there was too much government support, but you can’t make a bumper sticker that says, it could have been worse, but that’s kind of the position that you’re in, how do you convince the American people of that?”
Yellen responded, “Well, look, the American people know that they got the support they needed to get through a horrible pandemic.”
Ruhle then asked, “Have they forgotten? Because many people across this country are really unhappy about the economy today.”
Yellen answered, “I think they’re unhappy because inflation’s high. And it’s natural, and it’s understandable.”
Ruhle then asked, “If Democrats do lose two weeks from now, with the economy being a top issue for voters, how much will the President’s economic team have to shoulder some of the blame for that?”
Yellen responded, “Well, you know, we did the best we could and under extremely challenging circumstances. And I guess I would urge people to look around the world and look at how the U.S. is doing in comparison with all of our advanced country counterparts where inflation is also extremely high.”
Follow Ian Hanchett on Twitter @IanHanchett
COMMENTS
Please let us know if you're having issues with commenting.