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MSNBC economic analyst and former Obama adviser Steven Rattner took President Biden to task on Thursday for claiming that Russian President Vladimir Putin's war in Ukraine is responsible for the soaring inflation Americans are facing at home.
Biden reacted to the staggering consumer price index report from the Labor Department in a statement Thursday, where he attempted to blame Putin for the documented 7.9% spike in consumer prices over the last 12 months.
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"Today's inflation report is a reminder that Americans' budgets are being stretched by price increases and families are starting to feel the impacts of Putin's price hike," the statement said. "A large contributor to inflation this month was an increase in gas and energy prices as markets reacted to Putin's aggressive actions."
"As I have said from the start, there will be costs at home as we impose crippling sanctions in response to Putin’s unprovoked war, but Americans can know this: The costs we are imposing on Putin and his cronies are far more devastating than the costs we are facing."
Rattner called out Biden's remarks in a tweet Thursday, noting that the administration's sanctions on Russia – which were imposed last month – would account for only a small percentage of the devastating inflation figure that reflects the past twelve months.
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"Well, no. These are [Feb. numbers] and only include small Russia effect," Rattner wrote. "This is Biden’s inflation and he needs to own it."
The price increase, which marks the sharpest spike since 1982, reflected the 12 months ending in February and didn’t include the oil and gas price surges that followed Russia’s invasion of Ukraine at the end of February, the Associated Press reported. Since then, average gas prices nationally have jumped about 62 cents a gallon to $4.32, according to AAA.
Ratter previously criticized Biden on the issue after he blamed the supply chain crisis for the rise in inflation last month.
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In a scathing New York Times opinion column, Rattner said Biden's effort to deflect blame for a crisis of his doing, was "dishonest, simplistic and misleading."
"Blaming inflation on supply lines is like complaining about your sweater keeping you too warm after you’ve added several logs to the fireplace," he wrote at the time.