Critics criticize Harris' understanding of inflation and attacks on the economy before her political speech: “Crazy behavior”

Vice President Kamala Harris is expected to unveil her economic plan in a speech in Raleigh, North Carolina, on Friday. Early signs suggest it will have a progressive-populist thrust, including attacks on corporate “price gouging” that conservative critics say is a distraction from the Biden-Harris administration's handling of inflation.

Michael Tyler, communications director for the Harris-Walz campaign, said on CNN's “Newsroom” on Wednesday that Americans “can expect her to talk about how she wants to grow the economy and lower costs for middle-class families,” noting that Harris “understands that prices remain too high for too many families.” In addition, the campaign stressed this week that tackling inflation will be a priority from “day one.”

Conservatives, however, criticize Harris for saying from day one that she wanted to fight inflation and insist that she has had four years to do something about it.

Harris reverses several far-left political views and distances herself from Biden

“It's been three and a half years since your first day in office. What have you done in the meantime to fight inflation?” asked EJ Antoni. “You created it.”

Former President Trump made similar remarks on Wednesday during his stay in North Carolina.

“I gave Harris and Biden an economic miracle and they quickly turned it into an economic nightmare,” the former president said.

Ahead of Harris' first official policy speech of her presidential campaign on Friday, her team announced that Harris would call for the first-ever federal oversight of “price gouging” by food and grocery retail companies. The proposal would give the Federal Trade Commission and state attorneys general the power to impose tough penalties on companies that set prices too high.

Vice President Kamala Harris, the Democratic presidential candidate, speaks at a campaign rally in Las Vegas on August 10. (AP/Julia Nikhinson)

“There is a big difference between fair prices in competitive markets and inflated prices that are disproportionate to the cost of doing business,” the Harris campaign team said shortly after the policy proposal was announced.

Republican economists criticized the move, calling it “Marxist” and “crazy behavior.”

They also questioned the validity of Harris' claim that food and grocery suppliers were artificially inflating prices.

“Actual consumer prices have risen less than producer prices, which is more likely to indicate that companies themselves are imposing extortionate prices,” said Richard Stern, director of the Heritage Foundation's Grover M. Hermann Center for the Federal Budget.

“If prices rise faster than business costs, then [the consumer price index] would rise faster than [the producer price index]and it is not.”

Antoni, also a member of the Heritage Foundation, noted that in the past, politicians' attempts to impose price and wage controls “have always had the same disastrous effect: shortages.”

“We had queues at petrol stations in the 1970s, and now she's not talking about regulating fuel prices, she's talking about regulating food prices. So instead of queues at petrol stations, we're going to have queues for bread supplies. This is absolutely crazy, but I think we shouldn't be surprised because, let's be honest, [Harris] is a Marxist, and her policies will have exactly the same impact here that Marxist policies have had elsewhere.”

“Price controls on food are a Soviet approach to fighting inflation,” said Paul Teller, executive director of Advancing American Freedom, a nonprofit founded by former U.S. Vice President Mike Pence. “Price controls are wrong and never work, whether on food or drug prices. They are anti-innovation and anti-free market.”

BIDEN INSTRUCTS MEDIA TO “WRITE” THAT HIS INFLATION POLICY “WORKS”

Other critics of Harris' “price gouging” proposal are now wondering why she did not implement the measure sooner. The Democrats have a majority in the White House and, theoretically, in the Senate, where Harris has the deciding vote on bills that are divided along party lines.

Fox News Digital reached out to the Harris team for comment on the new proposal to combat “price gouging,” which is set to be formally unveiled Friday during Harris' visit to North Carolina. The network was directed to a social media thread that included news articles and research highlighting that a lack of competition and other factors in the grocery sector gave companies an unfair advantage over consumers.

Another economic policy move the Harris team has been pursuing in recent weeks is former President Trump's policy of not taxing tips. But Tyler said that was only part of Harris' plan because the vice president “also understands what Donald Trump doesn't understand, which is that that's not enough.”

Close contest between Trump and Harris in this battleground state that went red: poll

Vice President Kamala Harris, the 2024 Democratic presidential nominee, and Second Gentleman Doug Emhoff wave as they board Air Force Two at Joint Base Andrew in Maryland on August 6, 2024. (Brendan Smialowski/Pool/AFP via Getty Images)

“That's why we need to raise the federal minimum wage,” Tyler said, referring to Harris' second well-known economic proposal.

During her failed 2019 presidential campaign, Harris' economic policies included a $3 trillion tax plan aimed at raising taxes on the wealthy. Just as in her current campaign, she wanted to raise the federal minimum wage, provide billions of dollars in tax relief to low-income renters, create a Bernie Sanders-style health care system and lower bail for criminals.

Americans feel the effects of inflation every day when they reach into their wallets. The U.S. Department of Labor announced on Wednesday that the Consumer Price Index (CPI), a general measure of the cost of everyday goods such as gasoline, groceries and rent, rose 0.2 percent in July compared to the previous month. This was in line with expectations.

Google executives are being pressed to testify after admitting the attempted assassination of Trump. The omissions in the search were intentional.

The prices of several important food items have risen significantly in recent years. (Fox & Friends first)

Prices rose by 2.9% compared to the same period last year. This was the lowest inflation rate since March 2021.

Housing costs were once again the main driver of inflation last month. Rents rose by 0.3 percent in the month and are up 5.1 percent compared to the same period last year.

Rising rents are worrying because higher housing costs have the most direct and significant impact on household budgets.

Food costs rose 0.2 percent last month, up 2.2 percent from a year earlier. The out-of-home consumption index rose 0.2 percent, while food costs rose 0.1 percent.

FIVE CONTROVERSIES INVOLVING VICE PRESIDENTIAL NOMINATE TIM WALZ, FROM DUI TO COVID FRAUD

The Biden administration was criticized on social media for a post boasting about cutting gasoline prices. (Celal Gunes/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)

Despite these increases, Harris-Waltz spokesman Joseph Costello wrote in a campaign email on Wednesday: “Inflation is at its lowest level in over three years and our economy is strong.”

CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

“Donald Trump's agenda would backfire on us: He would give tax breaks to the same big corporations that are ripping off Americans, while simultaneously raising prices for the middle class by $2,500 and plunging our economy into recession,” Costello said.

Fox Business' Megan Henney contributed to this report.