Biden defends inflation policies, says ‘red states really hurt’ their economy in latest interview

President Biden defended his administration by insisting that inflation was low and that “red states” were hurting their economies.

Biden sat down with MSNBC host Lawrence O’Donnell for his administration’s final interview before officially leaving office on Monday. The two discussed many topics, including Biden’s handling of the economy and the threat of inflation.

The president has dismissed criticism of his handling of inflation by saying that the other is job losses.

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Rejecting warnings from economists like Larry Summers that his spending on the COVID stimulus will cause inflation, Biden said otherwise “the only way to deal with inflation is to create unemployment and another recession.”

“But guess what? I was absolutely convinced. Give the Americans half a shot. They’ll step up and get the job done if you give them a chance. Look what they’ve done. They’re involved in every major effort,” he said. said. “I never believed we wouldn’t hit a soft spot. We hit a soft spot. Inflation is around 2%, there’s a lot going on.”

The Labor Department said on Wednesday that inflation rose 2.9% in December, up from 2.7% in November and the highest rate since July 2024.

Biden went on to say that red states are “self-sufficient” and need more investment in them than blue states.

“And look, another thing, Lawrence, I’ve gotten a lot of criticism. Understandably. We’ve invested more in red states than blue states … for two reasons. One, the red states were very different in the way they handled their economy and the way they handled production, the way they handle access to chains,” Biden said.

Most Americans still rate the economy as “fair” or “poor” in a new Fox News poll. (Photographer: Ting Shen/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

Reports have found that Republican-led states like Florida and Texas have recovered faster than blue-chip states after the pandemic.

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A new Fox News poll on Thursday showed nearly twice as many people think the Biden administration has made the economy worse than better, 52% compared to 28%. And, nearly all voters, 89%, say they are very or very concerned about rising inflation — up from 83% at the start of Biden’s term.

Inflation rose 2.9% in December, up .2% from November, according to the Labor Department. (stock)

70% of voters say the economy is not doing well, with six out of ten Democrats agreeing that the economy is either good or bad.

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Dana Blanton of Fox News contributed to this report.