As inflation has cooled slowly but steadily over the past year, stubbornly high-price-plagued Americans are finally showing signs of relief, and it’s not because of President Joe Biden, Republicans say. presidential candidate Chris Christie said.
“I believe that inflation has started to recede almost exclusively because of: [Federal Reserve] policy,” former New Jersey Gov. Christie said Tuesday on CNBC’s “Last Call.”
“We certainly haven’t seen spending cuts by the Biden administration, and they’re still printing a ton of free money,” Christie said.
He said the Fed was not entirely blameless. “Maybe they took too long to set rates and they should have raised rates more quickly, and I would criticize that,” Mr. Christie said.
But Mr. Biden and his predecessor, former President Donald Trump, both deserved maximum responsibility for their prodigal spending, the former governor argued.
“Ultimately, this is due to Joe Biden and his spending, and Donald Trump and his spending during his time in the White House,” said Christie, who has been an outspoken critic of Trump during the presidential primary. Told.
In his first term in office, the Biden administration has made fighting inflation a top priority. He backed a sweeping 2022 spending bill called the Inflation Containment Act, and credited them with lowering inflation since enactment.
But recent polls show that a majority of registered voters disapprove of Mr. Biden’s handling of the economy and inflation in particular, revealing a major weakness in his bid for reelection in 2024.
Christie announced his candidacy on CNBC and vowed to curb federal spending, which he claims is the root of America’s inflation problem.
He said Fed policymakers would start cutting rates if they decided the administration wasn’t absorbing trillions of dollars in deficit spending each year.
“I’m going to say no to more federal spending,” Mr. Christie said.
Mr. Christie also declined to say whether Fed Chairman Jerome Powell, whose term is set to expire in May 2026, would be reappointed, but said, “It depends on what he does going forward.”
