On the day when the Consumer Price Index report was released and the US stock market took a beating, President Joe Biden was busy partying on the White House lawns. Reportedly, Biden threw an ‘inflation reduction’ party while the CPI report showed inflation hitting a worse-than-expected mark of ‘8.3’ per cent.
“Exactly four weeks ago, I signed the Inflation Reduction Act into law. So today, we’re celebrating. Tune in at 3 PM ET as I deliver remarks and welcome the leaders and advocates who made it happen to the People’s House.” tweeted President Biden from his official Twitter account.
Exactly four weeks ago, I signed the Inflation Reduction Act into law.
So today, we’re celebrating.
Tune in at 3 PM ET as I deliver remarks and welcome the leaders and advocates who made it happen to the People’s House.
— President Biden (@POTUS) September 13, 2022
While the White House was delirious, the stock market was panicking. Reportedly, while the pace of consumer price inflation cooled compared to previous months, it was still touching a record four-decade high.
Biden hosting a celebration for the Inflation Reduction Act at the White House (AP)
Investors had hoped for better numbers but after the report release, they were forced to sell everything, leading to The Dow falling nearly 1300 points.
Moreover, inflation numbers suggest that the US central bank, the Federal Reserve may be hiking interest rates for a record fifth time this year, next week.
Read more: Biden signs the Inflation Reduction Act, a toned down version of his Build Back Better plan
Meanwhile, US Senate minority leader Mitch McConnell said Biden and Democrats were “out of touch” on inflation.
“You can’t make it up: Hours after this terrible inflation report, the White House is hosting an ‘inflation reduction’ celebration. Democrats have spent our economy into disaster and now they’re partying while families pay. They could not look more out of touch if they tried.” tweeted the Republican leader.
You can’t make it up: Hours after this terrible inflation report, the White House is hosting an “inflation reduction” celebration. Democrats have spent our economy into disaster and now they’re partying while families pay. They could not look more out of touch if they tried.
— Leader McConnell (@LeaderMcConnell) September 13, 2022
This is not the first time that Biden has come under the scanner for his apathy in the face of a crisis.
As reported by WION last month, Biden claimed that the US economy had ‘zero inflation’ in the month of July, thereby inviting seething criticism from Republicans across the board for trying to manipulate the numbers and present a rosy picture.
Read more: President Biden claims US had ‘zero per cent inflation’ in July; gets trolled by Republicans
“Before I begin today, I want to say a word about the news that came out today relative to the economy. Actually, I just want to say a number: Zero,” Biden had told reporters at the time.
The President further added, “Here’s what that means: while the price of some things go up, went up last month, the price of other things went down by the same amount. The result? Zero inflation last month.”
While Biden may have been technically right, the overall picture was quite different. The CPI report released on the same day revealed that the rate of inflation was down 0.6 per cent from June’s 9.1 per cent but it certainly did not mean that inflation had reached the magical ‘zero’ per cent mark.
Investors fear that the Fed hiking rates in an attempt to get ahead of inflation may be pushing the economy towards recession. However, for two consecutive months, Biden and his executives have failed to read the room and indulged in a PR party.
Read more: Zero probability of recession in India while US has a 40 per cent chance: Study
(With inputs from agencies)
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