(Luis Cornelio, Headline USA) President Joe Biden faced significant fact-check scrutiny after promoting his economic policies with a claim that inflation “was 0% last month,” leading to widespread ridicule from Republican lawmakers, political commentators and Twitter users.
Despite Biden’s attempt to project a cheerful picture of economic stability, critics countered his seemingly misleading claim, pointing out that while he referenced the percentage change from the preceding month, the actual inflation rate remains at 3.2%.
Joe Biden’s X is now a parody account.
Inflation was at 1.4% before he took (stole) office. Prices have risen nearly 20% under “Bidenomics”!
6.5 MILLION+ Americans remain unemployed.
US has LOST nearly 40,000 manufacturing jobs.
American families pay $11,500 more per… https://t.co/IxNX7QuxvK
— Marjorie Taylor Greene 🇺🇸 (@mtgreenee) December 2, 2023
Reacting to Biden’s statement, Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., took to Twitter to mock the claim: “Joe Biden’s X is now a parody account. Inflation was at 1.4% before he took (stole) office. Prices have risen nearly 20% under ‘Bidenomics’!”
Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, criticized the increasing financial burden on American families, questioning, “Then why is the average family having to shell out an additional $1,000 every month — just for basic living expenses — compared to the day you took office?”
The controversy stemmed from Biden’s Twitter post, where he asserted, “Inflation was 0% last month – and our economy grew by more than 5% last quarter. Bidenomics.”
The contentious claim triggered a Community Note on Twitter, a fact-checking feature, providing context to potentially misleading viral claims.
“Tweet is referring to the PCE index, % change from the preceding month. Inflation is normally assessed annually (12 months) however, & the Fed’s PCE goal is 2%. It is currently 3%,” the fact-checking banner explained. “A more commonly referenced inflation index is CPI, which shows annual inflation of 3.2%”
Biden’s assertion, perceived as misleading, comes shortly after his acknowledgment that prices in the U.S. were “too high,” attributing an 18% surge in consumer costs to sellers, as reported by the New York Post’s Steven Nelson.
“We know that prices are still too high for too many things — that times are still too tough for too many families,” Biden claimed on Nov. 27.
“We’ve made progress, but we have more work to do,” Biden continued. “Let me be clear to any corporation has not brought their prices back down, even as inflation has come down, even supply chains have been rebuilt: It’s time to stop the price gouging and give the American consumer a break.”
If you believe that inflation was 0% last month, you’ve got Biden for brains. https://t.co/a6OMX0LJK7
— ForAmerica (@ForAmerica) December 2, 2023
Delete your account. https://t.co/DM04HUvwo6
— Michael A. Gayed, CFA (@leadlagreport) December 2, 2023
Oh, really? And I batted .345 last season with a .995 OPS and 125 RBI. https://t.co/MfiBIRX6wk
— John Bachman (@JohnFBachman) December 2, 2023