MSNBC anchor Ali Velshi argued that Republicans have created a “great inflation myth” to falsely paint President Biden and other Democrats as responsible for decades-high inflation ahead of critical midterm elections.
Velshi made the point during an interview with Democratic Rep. Brenda Lawrence of Michigan – asserting that while inflation was “real,” it has occurred due to global economic forces outside the administration’s control.
“I do not want to belittle anybody’s experience with inflation. We are all feeling it. We are feeling it in our daily lives,” Velshi said.
“It is real, but it has been transformed into something that Republicans – in particular running for Congress – are blaming Joe Biden and Democrats for specifically when, in fact, there is no economic evidence or mathematical evidence or any other kind of evidence that that’s actually true,” he added.
“It’s absolutely not true,” Lawrence agreed during Saturday’s episode of “Velshi.”
She said that inflation is part of a “global epidemic” of economic struggle that was also impacting China, the United Kingdom and other nations.
“This is a very uncomfortable time right now for anyone,” Lawrence added. “Everyone needs to go get gas and we’re constantly reminded that inflation is happening.”
Lawrence went on to describe inflation as “the sole issue that the Republicans can rest on” while Democrats focused on the “fight for democracy.”
Just before Lawrence’s appearance, the MSNBC host acknowledged that inflation was “actively affecting the daily lives of Americans” and admitted it made sense that voters were laser-focused on the state of the economy ahead of the 2022 midterms.
At the same time, Velshi argued that Republicans were merely using higher prices to attack Democrats without acknowledging inflation was impacting economies around the world.
“High inflation is bad – it’s really bad,” Velshi said. “But it’s actually not the fault of Joe Biden and Democrats. It’s not even a uniquely American problem and it’s not worse in America than it is in other modern economies.”
“That’s where the problem lies. Many Republican politicians and candidates love painting this is a purely American issue. They love blaming the current administration, they love blaming Democrats for inflation.”
Mediaite earlier reported on the segment.
Republicans have regularly argued the Biden administration policies, such as a restrictive approach to domestic energy production and sweeping government spending bills, have exacerbated the conditions that led to decades-high inflation.
Meanwhile, Biden and other Democrats have attributed the spike to global supply chain shocks. Biden has also blamed Russian President Vladimir Putin and his invasion of Ukraine for driving up gas and food prices.
Inflation was still running at 8.2% in September. The Federal Reserve has implemented a series of sharp interest rate hikes, with more expected in the months ahead.
As The Post reported in September, inflation has surged 13% since Biden took office in January 2021.
[Written in collaboration with other media outlets with information from the following sources]
