Trump slams Biden for inflation after hotter-than-expected CPI report

Donald Trump pounced on President Joe Biden on Wednesday after the March consumer price index came in higher than expected, marking another data point that could signal a pick-up in inflation and dampen hopes to see the Federal Reserve reduce interest rates in the near future.

“INFLATION is BACK – and RAGING!” “, the former president wrote in an article for Truth Social. “The Fed will never be able to credibly lower interest rates because they want to protect the worst president in American history!”

Consumer prices rose 0.4% in March, slightly above economists’ expectations of 0.3%. That monthly rate pushed the year-over-year increase to 3.5%, higher than the expected 3.4%.

The index has risen higher than expected almost every month since November, perhaps marking an unwelcome trend for Biden as the economy becomes the centerpiece of the 2024 election.

“I’m calling on businesses, including grocery retailers, to use their record profits to reduce prices,” Biden said in a statement following the CPI report.

“Republicans in Congress want to cut taxes on billionaires and big corporations, while helping special interests and big pharmaceutical companies raise prices. I won’t let them,” he added.

Biden has continually blamed big business and Republicans for the persistently high cost of living that consumers say they still experience, while touting the economic gains of his own policies.

According to indicators such as gross domestic product and unemployment, the American economy is currently doing well, especially compared to other large developed countries such as Canada, Japan or Germany.

However, persistent inflation and a large budget deficit remain thorns in the side of the White House and Biden’s campaign, a message that Trump has amplified.

“We are a nation whose economy is collapsing into a cesspool of ruin,” Trump said at a rally in Georgia last week.

Consumer confidence has begun to show glimmers of optimism, even as voter surveys have found that Americans have fond memories of the economy under Trump.