White House shifts messaging on inflation
The White House is shifting the way it talks about inflation, as polls show increasing voter concern and Republicans try to use rising prices to kill off President Joe Biden’s sweeping plans to spend trillions of dollars on social programs and infrastructure projects.
Out: wonky words like “transitory” and complicated statistical explanations for price indicators.
In: plain-language explanations from the president himself, who sought in remarks last week to acknowledge ordinary Americans’ jitters about higher costs — for items ranging from housing, food and gas to lumber and used cars — while reassuring them that the increases will fade in time.
“My administration understands that if we were to ever experience unchecked inflation over the long term, that would pose real challenges to our economy. So while we’re confident that isn’t what we are seeing today, we’re going to remain vigilant about any response that is needed,” Biden said in July 19 remarks.
Biden’s efforts to address the issue also show the extent to which inflation — an economic phenomenon that barely registered in American politics for 40 years — represents a vulnerability in the 2022 midterm elections. Worries are increasingly showing: Consumer sentiment was weaker than all economists’ forecasts in early July as Americans factored in a higher cost of living. And the president’s own approval rating has been slipping, this month hitting its lowest in Gallup surveys since he took office.
White House aides insist the rhetorical shift does not reflect any substantive shift in their view of inflation.