Conservatives attack White House's 'Putin price hike' narrative as inflation surges


Republicans slammed the Biden administration for blaming inflation on Russian President Vladimir Putin after a report released Tuesday showed that consumer prices have jumped 8.5 percent since March 2021.
"We expect March … [Consumer Price Index] headline inflation to be extraordinarily elevated due to Putin's price hike," White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki said Monday ahead of the release of Tuesday's inflation report.
Conservatives weren't having any of it.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Podcast host Ben Shapiro tweeted that "[m]ost of the inflation happened before Putin's invasion of Ukraine," claiming that the White House is "lying, as usual" about the cause of inflation.
Former U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley blasted the Biden administration's narrative. "You're going to hear a lot about 'Putin's Price Hike' today. Food and gas prices were already soaring. Wages can't keep up with inflation. This is Biden's economy," she wrote.
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) blamed inflation on "federal policies of borrowing & printing money at unfathomable levels & bad energy policy."
In a video posted to Twitter, Brad Polumbo of the right-libertarian Foundation for Economic Education said, "New inflation data are in, and ooh boy they destroyed the White House's narrative."
"To be clear," Polumbo continued, "Putin's invasion of Ukraine definitely has disrupted global energy markets and led to higher gas prices, but gas prices were rising for almost nine months before the invasion began, and prices overall have been surging since May of 2021."
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Grayson Quay was the weekend editor at TheWeek.com. His writing has also been published in National Review, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Modern Age, The American Conservative, The Spectator World, and other outlets. Grayson earned his M.A. from Georgetown University in 2019.
-
Trump threatens Brazil with 50% tariffs
Speed Read He accused Brazil's current president of leading a 'witch hunt' against far-right former leader Jair Bolsonaro
-
AI scammer fakes Rubio messages to top officials
Speed Read The unknown individual mimicked Rubio in voice and text messages sent to multiple government officials
-
SCOTUS greenlights Trump's federal firings
speed read The Trump administration can conduct mass federal firings without Congress' permission, the Supreme Court ruled
-
New tariffs set on 14 trading partners
Speed Read A new slate of tariffs will begin August 1 on imports from Japan, South Korea, Thailand and more
-
Elon Musk launching 'America Party'
Speed Read The tech mogul promised to form a new political party if Trump's megabill passed Congress
-
Judge blocks Trump's asylum ban at US border
Speed Read The president violated federal law by shutting down the US-Mexico border to asylum seekers, said the ruling
-
Thai court suspends prime minister over leaked call
Speed Read Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra has been suspended, pending an ethics investigation
-
Senate passes GOP megabill after Alaska side deal
The pivotal yes vote came from Sen. Lisa Murkowski, whose support was secured following negotiated side deals for her home state Alaska