(Headline USA) Former White House chief of staff Ron Klain blasted President Joe Biden over his handling of inflation and the economy, according to a leaked audio recording obtained by Politico.
The audio was recorded during a private event at which Klain was a speaker, hosted by the website Democracy: A Journal of Ideas.
During his talk, Klain criticized Biden for turning a blind eye to the economic havoc that inflation had wrought on families over the past few years.
He derided his longtime boss for prioritizing photo-op-friendly infrastructure projects, such as the reconstruction of the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore, over fundamental kitchen-table issues.
“I think the president is out there too much talking about bridges,” Klain reportedly said in the audio, according to Politico.
“He does two or three events a week where he’s cutting a ribbon on a bridge,” Klain added. “… Like, I tell you, if you go into the grocery store, you go to the grocery store and, you know, eggs and milk are expensive, the fact that there’s a f***ing bridge is not [inaudible].”
Klain went on to say that Biden’s attempts to turn the attention away from the economy and toward the more tangible accomplishments of his administration were a “fool’s errand.”
He added, “He’s not a congressman. He’s not running for Congress.”
Biden’s infrastructure success “doesn’t get covered that much because, look, it’s a f***ing bridge,” Klain continued. “Like it’s a bridge, and how interesting is the bridge? It’s a little interesting but it’s not a lot interesting.”
Klain elaborated on his comments in a subsequent interview with Politico but did not walk back the bulk of his criticism.
“The president’s most effective economic message is [to] contrast whose side are you on, and compassion for the [pinch] of family budgets, and his agenda to bring down costs and raise incomes,” Klain said. “Lauding achievements, especially ones with abstract benefits, is less persuasive with voters.”
In response, White House deputy press secretary Andrew Bates tried to downplay Klain’s criticism and instead touted Biden’s supposed policy achievements.
“Like Ron says, President Biden is crisscrossing the country building on his State of the Union message, highlighting that he is fighting to grow the middle class and lower costs like prescription drugs while blocking the trickle-down agenda Republican officials have proposed on behalf of rich special interests, including Medicare cuts and tax giveaways to big corporations,” Bates claimed.
