Inflation is “killing our country,” Republican Donald Trump warned this Thursday, in a direct attack against the US president, Democrat Joe Biden, in his first debate for the November presidential elections.
“He hasn’t done a good job. He’s done a bad job. And inflation is killing our country. It’s absolutely killing us,” the tycoon said at the forum held at CNN headquarters in Atlanta.
“I gave him a country with essentially no inflation. He was perfect. He was so good that all I had to do was leave him alone,” the former Republican president added. “He destroyed it.”
In response, Biden said that Trump “absolutely decimated” the US economy when he was president (2017-2021).
“There was no inflation when I became president. Do you know why? The economy was supported,” he said, arguing that his administration helped create “millions” of new jobs.
According to a Gallup poll, inflation is “the most important economic problem facing Americans.”
To Biden’s concern, 46% of adults surveyed have “a lot” or “a lot” of confidence that Trump can make decisions that will remedy the economy, in contrast to 38% who think the same about the current president.
– Price increase –
Since 2021, prices of food, housing, cars and fuel have skyrocketed, driven by the recovery from the Covid-19 pandemic, the war in Ukraine and the US government’s extensive plans during the health emergency. .
Inflation reached 9.1% in the United States in June 2022, its highest level since the early 1980s. It has since slowed and stood at 3.3% in May, according to the CPI index. , on which pensions are indexed.
In response, the Federal Reserve raised its key interest rate to a two-decade high of 5.25% to 5.50%, chilling the economy and affecting everything from mortgages to auto loans.
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Despite a sharp decline in inflation since the Fed raised rates, it remains stuck above its 2026 target of 2%, a phenomenon that has the agency on pause awaiting more positive data.
In any case, the path to the 2% goal will likely depend on who takes over the presidency in November and which parties will control the House of Representatives and the Senate.
Although Congress gave the Fed a mandate to address inflation, it remains a difficult issue for Biden, who has tried to improve his economic policy before the elections, which will be held on November 5.
Trump has suggested that if he wins that election he will seek to extend a series of tax cuts he imposed under his watch and impose tariffs on all American imports.
This Thursday was the first debate in which President Biden and his Republican predecessor met face to face since 2020.
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