close
close

‘Let’s tell the truth’: CNN panel dispute after former Biden official says inflation is ‘low’

On Sunday, a CNN panel on the “State of the Union” program clashed after President Joe Biden’s former communications director, Kate Bedingfield, said Vice President Kamala Harris could tout “falling” inflation as a campaign victory.

Since becoming the Democratic Party's presidential nominee on July 21 following President Joe Biden's withdrawal, Harris has reportedly been planning to distance herself from Biden. During the discussion, GOP strategist Brad Todd accused Harris of abandoning “everything” about the Biden administration, leading to a heated exchange after Bedingfield tried to defend the vice president's record.

“Wait a minute. She's not disavowing everything the government has done. She's talked about how they've succeeded in bringing down inflation. She's talked about measures that will continue to bring down costs. And she's building on that by driving up prices,” Bedingfield said.

“I mean, she's not – it's just not true that she stands up and says, 'I reject everything we've accomplished.' She says, 'This is how I'm going to build on this and this is how I'm going to make your life better over the next four years,'” Bedingfield continued.

CNN's Scott Jennings then chimed in to say that “inflation has not gone down,” prompting Bedingfield and another commentator to disagree. (RELATED: Neil Cavuto engages in heated verbal exchange with Harris' economic adviser over who blames inflation)

“No, wrong. The inflation rate may have gone down, but inflation is still rising. So let's tell the truth about inflation,” Jennings said.

REGARD:

“Okay, the inflation rate has come down. And wages continue to rise faster than inflation, so that's a fact,” Bedingfield replied.

Then Todd joined the discussion and criticized the high prices since Biden took office.

“If you buy a pickup truck today, it costs $40,000, back then it was $30 [thousand] when Joe Biden took office. If you take out a mortgage, it's double. Prices have gone up, inflation caused that,” Todd said.

In mid-August, the Vice President faced considerable criticism from political experts from both parties after announcing her economic plans if elected.

While she addressed housing, tax breaks and high prices, the vice president's message focused on a federal ban on “corporate price gouging” to get a handle on high prices at grocery stores. Critics have since warned that Harris' plan to target grocery stores could not only drive up prices, but potentially create black markets.

A recent ABC News/Washington Post/Ipsos poll shows that despite her narrow lead nationally, Americans still don't trust Harris on key issues like the economy, inflation and immigration. Data shows former President Donald Trump currently leads Harris by nine percentage points when it comes to who voters trust more to handle the economy and inflation, and he is 10 percentage points ahead on tackling the U.S.-Mexico border, according to the ABC News/Washington Post/Ipsos poll.

All content created by the Daily Caller News Foundation, an independent and nonpartisan news service, is available free of charge to any reputable news publisher that can reach a large audience. All republished articles must include our logo, our reporter's name and their DCNF affiliation. If you have any questions about our policies or partnering with us, please contact [email protected].

You may also like...