CNN Analyst Calls Out Biden Admin’s ‘Putin Price Hike’ Lie

On Tuesday’s CNN Newsroom, viewers were exposed to some truthful commentary on the state of the nation’s economy, which is something CNN viewers are not accustomed to. She took cues from her colleagues at other networks. Washington PostColumnist and CNN analyst, said that inflation was rising before Russia invaded Ukraine and that rising prices are only the result of domestic policy. 

When asked by anchor Alisyn Camerota about the Biden administration continuing to call inflation the “Putin price hike” and noting that Americans see “inflation and economy as synonymous”Rampell stated that “if you look at the job market, it’s a completely different story than if you look at what’s happening with prices. And Americans do seem to be paying a lot more attention to what’s happening with prices.” 

Yet Rampell noted the obvious truth that “the increases in prices obviously long predates the war” and “we’ve been seeing inflation rise for most of the past year.”      

She continued to hammer the Biden administration’s blame-shifting for their own policy failures: 

Actually, the Fed’s target inflation of 2 percent has exceeded inflation for six months. It’s not about the war. It’s not about supply chain issues. This is about persistent demand problems. So people want to buy things and don’t have enough, which drives up prices.

Rampell came so close to specifically naming Biden’s “American Rescue Plan” and other massive government spending for the cause of inflation. 

Her reference to “policy choices that we’ve made” is the closest CNN will probably let her get to outright calling out reckless government stimulus payments for setting off inflation. 

To read the relevant transcript click “expand”: 

CNN Newsroom
4/12/2022
Eastern Time: 3:49 p.m.

ALISYN CAMEROTA – Let’s get to it. Catherine, could you please give us the whole picture? The Biden administration is still calling it Putin’s price increase, as I just said. However, if you asked the American people how they feel regarding the economy (which in many ways is firing on all cylinders), the answer will surprise you. Inflation and economics are synonymous, I believe. It’s not all good.  

CATHERINE RAMPELL: Certainly if you look at the job market, it’s a completely different story than if you look at what’s happening with prices. And Americans do seem to be paying a lot more attention to what’s happening with prices. This could be because the price impact on a greater portion of American citizens. Right? You mean that there is very little risk of people losing their job, even if the economy has been really terrible. Everybody’s affected by inflation. In terms of whether this is Putin’s fault or the war, it seems that everyone has been affected by inflation. Obviously, the war has disrupted the energy market and driven up prices and we’re seeing some of the price come down recently. However, the rise in prices has been evidently occurring since before the conflict. Since the beginning of this year, inflation has been rising. For the past six months inflation has exceeded the Fed’s target of 2 per cent. It’s not about the war. It’s not about supply chain issues. This is about persistent demand problems. So people want to buy things and don’t have enough, which drives up prices.