Kamala Harris Explains That 40 Year Record Inflation Numbers Don’t Reflect Recent 40 Cent Drop in Gas Prices
Vice President Kamala Harris attempted to mitigate the devastating inflation numbers posted on Wednesday by saying that the CPI report does not reflect a very recent decline in the excessively high gas prices that have been a persistent issue for Democrats this year.
The rate of increase in prices is accelerating, the latest Consumer Price Index report shows, with June 2022 at 9.1% higher than a year ago, versus the May numbers which showed a then-record 8.6% over last year. It’s the highest inflation in 41 years.
Gas prices have been particularly high, and it has been a persistent issue for Democrats in polling. President Joe Biden has spoken about prices at the pump a great deal, typically blaming Vladimir Putin, oil companies, and gas stations for the high numbers.
However, on Wednesday, both Biden and Harris did take some responsibility for gas prices, touting a decrease in the last 30 days. Harris, speaking at the American Rescue Plan Workforce Development Summit, extrapolated from that to imply inflation isn’t as bad as the amount of inflation would make it seem.
“Before I begin, I will address this month’s CPI report,” said Harris. “There is no question that we still have work to do, but it is important to note that these numbers do not fully reflect the recent drop in gas prices. Average national gas prices have fallen every day for nearly 30 days since mid-June.”
Harris said that “prices are down $0.40 a gallon,” but did not give the average. That decline was from what the Biden administration has called “excessively high” prices and, at an average today of about $4.72, the price is still more than a dollar higher than July of 2021’s average of about $3.22, and two dollars more than July of 2020 when prices were at about $2.27 per gallon.
“Fighting inflation is one of our administration’s top economic priorities, which is why we have taken action to lower the cost of living for Americans, millions of Americans,” said Harris. “We are releasing 1 million barrels of oil a day from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve to lower prices at the pump.”
Lower than a month ago, much higher than a year ago.
In a statement on Wednesday, President Biden was also dismissive of the inflation numbers for not including this very recent period of a small decline in very high gas prices.
Watch the clip above, via C-SPAN.
