Was Inflation 9% When Biden Took Office?
Summary from the AllSides News Team
President Joe Biden repeated a false claim about inflation this week.
What Biden Said: Inflation "was at 9% when I came in and it’s now down to about 3%,” Biden said in an interview with Yahoo Finance.
The Facts: Inflation was 1.4% when Biden took office in 2021. It didn't reach 9% until June 2022 and is currently at 3.4%.
For Context: Biden has made the 9% claim twice in the past week and has stated several times throughout his presidency that inflation was already rampant when he took office.
How the Media Covered It: Sources across the spectrum fact-checked Biden's claim. The Associated Press (Lean Left bias) said Biden cited an "erroneous inflation statistic." The New York Post (Lean Right) said Biden continued to "lie" in an attempt "to deflect public disenchantment with the economy."
Featured Coverage of this Story
From the Left
Biden cites erroneous inflation statistic to make his case about the economy
CLAIM: Inflation was at 9% when President Joe Biden took the oath of office in January 2021.
AP’S ASSESSMENT: False. Inflation was at 1.4% in 2021 as Biden assumed the presidency, having risen from a low of 0.1% in May 2020, two months into the COVID-19 pandemic. It continued to increase steadily in the first 17 months of Biden’s presidency, reaching a peak of 9.1% in June 2022. Data released today shows that as of last month, it had fallen to 3.4%.
THE FACTS: Biden has twice cited this number, which is drawn from...
From the Center
Biden Gets 2021 Inflation Rate Wrong, Trump Bizarrely Riffs About Hot Dogs, Hannibal Lecter And Sinatra
As concerns have grown that former President Donald Trump, 77, and President Joe Biden, 81, are too old to serve another term amid repeated rhetorical missteps since announcing their campaigns, here’s a list of the most notable recent gaffes.
Biden told Yahoo Finance inflation was “at 9% when I came in,” repeating a claim he made in a CNN interview earlier this month (inflation was at 1.4% year-over-year when Biden took office in January 2021, according to the Consumer Price Index).
Trump referred to former President Jimmy Carter as “Jimmy Connors,” chuckling as he...
From the Right
Biden repeats lie that inflation ‘was at 9% when I came in’ as president
President Biden again claimed Tuesday that the annual US inflation rate was 9% when he took office in January 2021 — when it actually was 1.4% and didn’t pass 9% until 17 months into his term — as he attempted to deflect public disenchantment with the economy.
The 81-year-old president made the incorrect assertion when asked during a brief interview with Yahoo Finance why families don’t feel very “wealthy” right now.
“I think inflation has gone slightly up. It was at 9% when I came in and it’s now down to about 3%,” Biden...
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