President Donald Trump told an Arizona crowd Wednesday that President Joe Biden is to blame for inflation, hours after the government reported that consumer prices had climbed again — with gas prices driving the increase.
“Whenever I have a news conference, somebody will stand up, say, ‘Mr. President, affordability,’” Trump said. “I said, ‘Yeah, that was caused by Biden, who gave us the highest inflation in history.’”
“The prices are all coming down,” Trump said while speaking at a campaign rally for Rep. Andy Biggs, the Republican gubernatorial nominee, in Bullhead City.
Affordability has been one of the defining issues in this year’s election cycle. The economy ranked as the top voting issue for 84% of registered voters — including 82% of those supporting Republicans, according to a Pew Research Center survey conducted Sept. 28-Oct. 4.
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Gas prices continue to surge as a result of the Iran war, with the national average running over $1 per gallon more than it cost a year ago.
The consumer price index rose 3.7% in September compared to a year ago, the Labor Department said Wednesday. Prices rose 0.6% over the month, the largest monthly increase since April.
Gasoline prices rose 9.1% in September and accounted for more than half of the month’s consumer prices increase.
“I hated to do it, and I knew gasoline would go high, but I had no idea,” Trump said Wednesday of launching strikes on Iran earlier this year. “I thought it was going to go much higher.”
Trump has alternately promised relief and blamed his predecessor. But he again and again touted how well the economy is doing, at one point noting the stock market hitting “an all-time high.”
“Our country is making more money than it’s ever made because of the fact that oil is so high,” he said. “Because of the price of oil, Texas and Oklahoma and North Dakota and all these places, we’re making a fortune.”
Gas prices will fall precipitously once the war is over, Trump said, repeating a talking point he’s used often in recent months.
“Your gasoline is going to go down to even lower than it was before [the war] started,” Trump said.
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