Jean-Pierre claims Americans can 'take on inflation' because of Biden American Rescue Plan

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CNN’s Don Lemon presses WH press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre on inflation

The CNN host asked the White House press secretary if the Biden administration bears some responsibility for rising prices.

White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre pushed back Monday on claims that the Biden administration bears responsibility for inflation and claimed the American Rescue Plan put Americans in a place where they feel they can "take on" rising prices. 

Jean-Pierre said on CNN that Americans must understand the position President Biden was in when he took office and asserted that the U.S. economy is "bouncing back." She added that the administration believes they are in a "good position" to take on inflation.

"We've got to remember when thinking about gas prices and food this is coming from Putin’s war against Ukraine," Jean-Pierre caveated. "The moment that Putin amassed forces on the border of Ukraine, we saw from then until now, we have seen a $2 increase per gallon on gas."

Host Don Lemon then interjected, and pressed Jean-Pierre on her claim that rising prices were only attributable to the war. 

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White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre pauses during her remarks on the Robb Elementary School shooting in Uvalde, Texas, during the daily press briefing at the White House in Washington, U.S. May 26, 2022.   (REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst)

"Economists do cite the war in Ukraine and supply chain issues. We did have that before the war, supply chain issues," Lemon said. "They also say that last year's stimulus package, which you mentioned, contributed to inflation, Karine. Does the Biden administration bear some responsibility for this?"

Jean-Pierre touted the importance of the American Rescue Plan and said that the U.S. is in a "good historic economic place" where the country can take on inflation. She also claimed that the country is transitioning to "steady, stable growth."

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Gas prices across the country continue to break records. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong, File)

"So, first of all, the American Rescue Plan met the moment, and it has put us in a place where we can actually put us in a place where the American people feel – can actually, we can take on inflation. What I mean by that is we've seen growth, right, with as I mentioned more than 8 million jobs. Now we're transitioning into a steady, stable growth," she told Lemon. 

Last month, Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg declined to say if the $1.9-trillion American Rescue Plan contributed to inflation. He claimed that economists would be "debating" that question for "decades."

Buttigieg also said the economy was at a "very real risk" of collapsing before the plan was placed. 

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White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre speaks during the daily briefing at the White House in Washington, Wednesday, May 18, 2022.  (AP Photo/Susan Walsh)

But Steven Rattner, former counselor to the Treasury Secretary under the Obama administration, wrote in The New York Times a month earlier that Biden's plan "will go down in history as an extraordinary mistake."

Rattner said lawmakers can't do much to prevent a recession but that the White House should listen to Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., and "couple new social programs — however meritorious — with an equal measure of deficit reduction."

The Federal Reserve’s actions to stimulate the economy in response to the COVID-19 pandemic included $120 billion in monthly asset purchases and cutting interest rates. Both of these policies contributed to inflation, which is at a four-decade high.

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Fox News’ Hanna Panreck contributed to this report.