Republicans hammered Rep. Cindy Axne, Iowa’s lone congressional Democrat, for her continued flip-flopping on inflation as the U.S. Consumer Price Index rose 8.6 percent in May, ultimately defying projections that it had peaked in March.
On Friday — only days after Axne claimed to be getting inflation “under control” — data was released showing that inflation had risen to 8.6 percent in May, hitting a four-decade high. This revelation came after analysts projected that inflation had peaked when the prices rose 8.557 percent in March. Prices subsequently moved down to 8.3 percent in April.
Economists had hoped that inflation would drop down to 8.2 percent in May.
Republicans used the opportunity to hammer the congresswoman, noting in a press release that it had been exactly one year since Axne said Americans are “not even remotely close to a point to say that we’re at rising inflation.”
Shortly after Axne touted her efforts to address inflation, Republican Party of Iowa chairman Jeff Kaufmann noted that Iowans are still struggling amid rising prices.
“Cindy Axne and Joe Biden are to blame for the immense economic hardship Iowans are facing today. Iowans are sick of hearing Axne’s excuses and denials,” Kaufmann said in a statement.
The chairman added that Axne had “spent the last year dismissing inflation worries, but now she is saying she’s getting it under control? She’s completely out of touch and it’s insulting to Iowans. It’s time for a change and that’s Zach Nunn.”
Nunn, the Republican running against Axne in the November general election, asked on social media if Axne could “finally admit that Biden’s reckless spending has caused record-high inflation?” He noted that inflation is at a 40-year high, the stock market is plummeting, and a recession appears imminent.
He also included a graphic of one of Axne’s statements from one year ago, in which she claimed, “We’re not even remotely close to a point to say that we’re at rising inflation.”
In March, Breitbart News chronicled her evolving position on inflation, which went from dismissing concerns about the issue as “false advertisements” to saying it was “shortsighted” to pin the blame for inflation on the historic levels of spending pushed by the Biden administration.
Axne also claimed, without evidence, that inflation has surged because of “decades of moving products out of our country” and “decades of putting tax policy in place that hurt working-class families.” She also cited the pandemic as one driver of price increases but said nothing about the role the Democrats and the White House have played in exacerbating the crisis.
Jacob Bliss is a reporter for Breitbart News. Write to him at jbliss@breitbart.com or follow him on Twitter @JacobMBliss.
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