Biden falsely claims he's never spoken to Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell as president

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Biden says 'I've never once spoken to the chairman of the Fed'

President Biden claims he has never spoken to Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell as president, despite the May 2022 meeting.

President Biden on Thursday falsely claimed he had never spoken to Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell as president, despite having a meeting with him at the White House two years ago.

Biden, during a speech to the Economic Club of Washington, said, "Unlike my predecessor, I respect the Federal Reserve's independence as they pursued a mandate to bring inflation down."  

"And that independence has served the country well. And by the way, I've never once spoken to the chairman of the Fed since I became president," Biden added. "We'll also do enormous damage to our economy if that independence is ever lost." 

However, in May 2022, Biden met with Powell in the Oval Office in what Bloomberg described in a report as his "third in-person session with Powell" since becoming president. 

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"My plan is to address inflation. That starts with a simple proposition: respect the Fed, respect the Fed’s independence, which I have done and will continue to do," Biden said at the time. 

"The president underscored to Chair Powell in the meeting what he has underscored consistently including today — that he respects the independence of the Federal Reserve," then-White House National Economic Council Director Brian Deese said after the meeting, according to Reuters. 

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President Biden met with Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, D.C., on May 31, 2022. (Reuters/Leah Millis)

Before that, in November 2021, Biden also introduced Powell during a news conference to announce his nominees for chair and vice chair of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System. 

President Biden announced the nomination of Jerome Powell for a second four-year term in the Eisenhower Executive Office Building’s South Court Auditorium at the White House in Washington, D.C., on Nov. 22, 2021. (Reuters/Kevin Lamarque)

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During his time as president, Donald Trump once called Powell "clueless" in a tweet, writing, "We should easily be reaping big Rewards & Gains, but the Fed is holding us back. We will Win!"