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."
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
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.
-
GOP's Mace seeks federal anti-trans bathroom ban
Speed Read Rep. Nancy Mace of South Carolina has introduced legislation to ban transgender people from using federal facilities
By Rafi Schwartz, The Week US Published
-
Ukraine fires ATACMS, Russia ups hybrid war
Speed Read Ukraine shot U.S.-provided long-range missiles and Russia threatened retaliation
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
New York DA floats 4-year Trump sentencing freeze
Speed Read President-elect Donald Trump's sentencing is on hold, and his lawyers are pushing to dismiss the case while he's in office
By Rafi Schwartz, The Week US Published
-
Wyoming judge strikes down abortion, pill bans
Speed Read The judge said the laws — one of which was a first-in-the-nation prohibition on the use of medication to end pregnancy — violated the state's constitution
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
US sanctions Israeli West Bank settler group
Speed Read The Biden administration has imposed sanctions on Amana, Israel's largest settlement development organization
By Rafi Schwartz, The Week US Published
-
Gaetz ethics report in limbo as sex allegations emerge
Speed Read A lawyer representing two women alleges that Matt Gaetz paid them for sex, and one witnessed him having sex with minor
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Biden allows Ukraine to hit deep in Russia
Speed Read The U.S. gave Ukraine the green light to use ATACMS missiles supplied by Washington, a decision influenced by Russia's escalation of the war with North Korean troops
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Sri Lanka's new Marxist leader wins huge majority
Speed Read The left-leaning coalition of newly elected Sri Lankan President Anura Kumara Dissanayake won 159 of the legislature's 225 seats
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published