Reacting to the highest inflation number of his presidency, Joe Biden blamed Russian President Vladimir Putin for his economic catastrophes.
The Daily Wire reports:
The Consumer Price Index (CPI) rose 8.6% between May 2021 and May 2022 — meaning that inflation reached its highest level in four decades, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics revealed on Friday morning. The new figure was worse than the Dow Jones estimate of 8.3% year-over-year inflation, according to CNBC.
President Biden characterized Russian President Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine as the main factor behind the higher prices.
“Putin’s Price Hike hit hard in May here and around the world: high gas prices at the pump, energy, and food prices accounted for around half of the monthly price increases, and gas pump prices are up by $2 a gallon in many places since Russian troops began to threaten Ukraine,” Biden said in a statement. “Even as we continue our work to defend freedom in Ukraine, we must do more — and quickly — to get prices down here in the United States.”
On the day of Biden’s inauguration, gas cost $2.39 per gallon — a figure that doubled to $4.82 last week before hitting $5 per gallon on Thursday. The White House, which nixed expansions to the Keystone XL Pipeline last year and is dragging its feet on issuing oil and gas permits, claims that higher fuel costs may help the United States transition more quickly to renewable energy.
