CNN senior political commentator Scott Jennings reminded former Democratic New York mayoral candidate Michael Blake on Thursday that the affordability crisis began under former President Joe Biden.
Blake claimed that Democratic Iowa state Sen.-elect Catelin Drey defeated the Republican incumbent in the state’s special election because Republicans “cannot articulate a policy agenda” to make Americans’ lives more affordable. Jennings mocked Democrats for sounding the alarm on the affordability crisis when inflation soared to record levels under Biden.
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“Well it doesn’t make me very nervous to hear Democrats, with a straight face, looking into a television camera and saying ‘boy, how did we get to this affordability crisis’ given that we all know how we got there over the last four years,” Jennings said.
When Blake blamed President Donald Trump for the inflation under Biden, Jennings said, “So you’re saying we had no affordability crisis during the Biden years? Where did the inflation come from?”
Blake stated that inflation has risen under “every Republican presidency,” but did not address the notable surge that occurred during the Biden-era.
Prices rose more than 20% during Biden’s term in office, jumping from 1.4% at the beginning of Biden’s presidency to its peak of 9.1% in June 2022, the highest annual rate since 1981. Inflation fell below 3% for the first time in two years in July 2024.
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Many economists blamed the soaring inflation on the Biden administration spending $1.9 trillion and $750 billion on the American Rescue Plan and the Inflation Reduction Act, which Biden signed into law early in his term.
Inflation has drastically been reduced during Trump’s second term, with rates often coming in better than expected. In May, inflation dropped to its lowest levels since March 2021.
The price of eggs dropped from a peak of $8.20 in March to $2.13 as of Thursday, according to Trading Economics. The average price of gas, which soared to record-highs under Biden, currently stands at $3.21, according to AAA.
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Jennings said that Democrats tend to perform better in special elections, which contributed to Drey’s victory.
“It’s absolutely true. Democrats now have more voters who are regular voters in non-traditional elections. Specials, off-year, what have you. That’s absolutely true, and so you’ve seen a pattern of Democrats doing better in these elections that don’t happen outside of a regular occurrence,” Jennings added.
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