Biden blames Putin for '70% of the increase in inflation' last month
Biden said Putin's invasion of Ukraine has increased prices 'all over the world'
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President Biden put a number on Russian President Vladimir Putin's contribution to rising inflation in America, telling a crowd in North Carolina on Thursday that 70% of the increase in pricing last month was a result of "Putin's price hike."
Biden's remarks came during an event in Greensboro, North Carolina, which was hosted by North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University.
President Biden speaks at the Alumni-Foundation Event Center of North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University in Greensboro, North Carolina on April 14, 2022. (MANDEL NGAN/AFP via Getty Images / Getty Images)
WHITE HOUSE BLAMES RUSSIA FOR RECORD-HIGH GAS PRICES, COINING ‘#PUTINPRICEHIKE’
"Putin's invasion of Ukraine has driven up gas prices and food prices all over the world," Biden said. "Ukraine and Russia are the one and two largest wheat producers in the world. We're three. They're shut down. We saw that in yesterday's inflation data."
"What people don't know is that 70% of the increase in inflation was the consequence of Putin's Price Hike because of the impact on oil prices. Seventy percent.
Without mentioning what measures his administration is taking to lower prices, Biden insisted that America must "address these high prices, and urgently, for working folks."
Biden traveled to North Carolina on Thursday to tout his efforts on combating inflation and jumpstarting high-tech research and manufacturing to make the United States more competitive in the global economy. (MANDEL NGAN/AFP via Getty Images / Getty Images)
INFLATION SURGES 8.5% IN MARCH, HITTING A NEW 40-YEAR HIGH
The Labor Department said Tuesday that the consumer price index – which measures a bevy of goods including gasoline, health care, groceries, and rents — rose 8.5% in March from a year ago, the fastest pace since December 1981, when inflation hit 8.9%. Prices jumped 1.2% in the one-month period from February, the largest month-to-month jump since 2005.
Core prices, which exclude more volatile measurements of food and energy, climbed 6.5% in March from the previous year — up from the 6.4% increase recorded in February. It was the steepest 12-month increase since August 1982.
Russian President Vladimir Putin listens to a journalist's question during a news conference in Moscow, Russia, Tuesday, Feb. 1, 2022. (Yuri Kochetkov/Pool Photo via AP / AP Newsroom)
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The latest inflation reading, which is the last before Fed officials meet on May 3-4, marks the 10th consecutive month the gauge has been above 5%. The Fed strives to keep inflation around 2%.
Biden's remarks in North Carolina echoed statements he made last month from the White House where he claimed he was "going to do everything I can to minimize Putin's price hike here at home in coordination with our partners."
Fox Business' Megan Henney contributed to this article.