CNN’s Tapper Spins Biden Commerce Secretary Raimondo Like A Top On Admin’s Inflation, Gas Excuses

The state of the U.S. economy under President Joe Biden is even becoming too much for the likes of CNN and Jake Tapper to defend with a straight face.

Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo appeared on Tapper’s show “State of the Union” on Sunday. Things went south for Raimondo immediately. 

Biden’s Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo told Jake Tapper yesterday she also had no idea there was a shortage of baby formula until April 2022.

Tapper points out that problems first emerged back in October 2021 and Abbott executives were warning about the shortage by February.

— Jon Miltimore (@miltimore79) June 6, 2022

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Getting Ugly Fast

Jake Tapper immediately launched into questions about the economy, and the fact that several Biden administration officials’ predictions about the economy turned out to be false.

Tapper asked Raimondo,

“You heard Secretary Yellen say this week she got it wrong about inflation. In July, you told Bloomberg that
inflation would be temporary, about a year ago. As recently as six months ago, you were calling inflation, ‘a short-term problem, not a long-term problem.’ So, you got it wrong, too.”

Raimondo wasted no time rolling out the Biden administration’s favorite scapegoats, Vladimir Putin and COVID:

“So clearly we are — and Americans are — struggling with inflation. But I don’t think anyone predicted Putin’s war in Ukraine, or various other things that have happened that have been unexpected. I still think we will get inflation under control. We just have to stick with it and see it through. You know, I think it’s worth noting that gas prices are up $1.40 a gallon since Putin moved troops into Ukraine. So, the president — and our team —is doing everything we possibly can to get inflation under control. The reality is, the cause of this inflation is the supply chain problems that were caused by Covid which we’re still struggling with. Putin’s war is driving the price of food and gas up. We can’t deny that. We know Americans are struggling.”

Watch:

CNN’S JAKE TAPPER: “As recently as six months ago, you were calling inflation ‘a short-term problem, not a long-term problem.'”

COMMERCE SECRETARY GINA RAIMONDO: “I still think we will get inflation under control, we just have to stick with it.” pic.twitter.com/ftec6ui6Gv

— RNC Research (@RNCResearch) June 5, 2022

Raimondo added, “And you heard Larry Summers, a top economist, just yesterday saying, ‘you’re starting to see inflation come down.’” 

Tapper had to know he was just going to hear Biden administration talking points and not answers to his questions.

Very evident that Gina Raimondo has lost touch with reality. @POTUS & @VP Raimondo blames everyone else on inflation not @bidenadministration Of course she doesn’t realize even without Putin America’s gas prices and energy are going thru the roof because of @POTUS policies

— @sailor02011957 (@sailor02011957) June 5, 2022

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On To Gas Prices And Baby Formula

Jake Tapper finished the part of the Larry Summers quote that Raimondo had conveniently forgot to add:

“All due respect, Madam Secretary, Larry Summers a year ago, more than a year ago, was saying the Biden administration was putting too much money into the economy, flooding too much money into the economy. And he was concerned about inflation. And a Biden administration official said that Larry Summers was wrong. And it turns out he was right.”

It was here that Raimondo’s statements revealed that she is just as out of touch with reality as the rest of the Biden administration, and seemed to dismiss the ultimately correct predictions of an actual economist. 

“I don’t really agree with that characterization. The reality is, I was just in Europe a couple of weeks ago. Gas there in France is $10 a gallon. And they didn’t have an American rescue plan like we did. I shudder to think, Jake, what we would be living through right now if we didn’t have the American rescue plan.”

What does France have to do with it? 

Biden’s Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo told Jake Tapper yesterday she also had no idea there was a shortage of baby formula until April 2022.

Tapper points out that problems first emerged back in October 2021 and Abbott executives were warning about the shortage by February.

— Jon Miltimore (@miltimore79) June 6, 2022

RELATED: Trump Inexplicably Endorses GOP Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy Despite Jan. 6 Resignation Plot

Of Course Everything Is Fine

If the White House Press Corps is not getting any straight answers, perhaps Jake Tapper shouldn’t count on any for himself.

Last week, during a press briefing, Fox News’ Peter Doocy straight out asked White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre, “When are you guys going to admit you were wrong about inflation?”

Also referencing comments made by Yellin, Doocy continued, “The Treasury Secretary says that she was wrong, so why doesn’t anybody here at the White House?” Jean-Pierre made reference to comments made by Yellin that “unanticipated and large shocks to the economy” caused her incorrect assessment.

Jean-Pierre reiterated that “the president’s economic plan, as we see it, is working.”

Watch Jake Tapper’s full interview with Commerce Secretary Raimondo here: