Republicans spotlight 'Bidenflation' as they take aim at Democrats over continued consumer prices surge

It was the economic headline President Biden and congressional Democrats were hoping to avoid.

But it came and, minutes after federal government statistics on Thursday morning showed consumer prices surging in January, Republicans quickly pounced.

"Consumer prices skyrocketed 7.5% from last year because of #Bidenflation," charged Republican National Committee (RNC) rapid response director Tommy Pigott.

CONSUMER PRICES KEEP SOARING AS INFLATION HITS A 40-YEAR HIGH

And RNC policy research director Jacki KotKiewicz highlighted that "Americans are paying more for just about everything."  

The National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC), the re-election arm of the Senate GOP, claimed that "thanks to Bidenflation and the Democrats’ reckless spending, grocery prices are skyrocketing."

And the NRSC’s House GOP counterpart, the National Republican Congressional Committee, also took aim at the Democratic president, charging that "Bidenflation is crushing American families."

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Democrats returned fire, placing blame with the GOP.

"Nothing's changed - inflation continues to be driven by supply chain issues and the pandemic. Democrats are working to lower costs, ease supply chain bottlenecks, and move forward," Democratic National Committee rapid response director Ammar Moussa emphasized. 

"Republicans voted against infrastructure and cheer for higher costs," he argued.

And DNC deputy communications director Daniel Wessel charged that "Republicans have no plan to tackle inflation and have opposed Democrats' efforts to lower costs for families every step of the way."

The unrelenting impact of inflation comes with nine months to go until November's midterm elections, when the Democrats hope to retain their razor-thin majorities in the House of Representatives and the Senate.

INFLATION DROVE UP ONLINE PRICES IN JANUARY

But Democrats are facing historical headwinds – the party that wins the White House traditionally suffers setbacks in the ensuing midterms – and they’re facing a brutal political climate compounded by the president’s flagging approval ratings. Partially fueling the adverse conditions and the consistent decline in Biden’s standing among Americans has been the steep rise in consumer prices as the nation’s economy rebounds after being flattened by the coronavirus, the worst pandemic to strike the globe in a century.

Poll after poll shows that inflation is a top concern among Americans. 

Seventy-three percent of those surveyed in a Fox News national poll last month said economic conditions were only fair or poor, up from 66% a month earlier. And even more, 85%, were worried about inflation, and that sentiment is bipartisan: 81% of Democrats and 91% of Republicans were concerned. 

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For eight months, Republicans have been blaming the massive government spending bills, that were passed first under then-President Trump and over the past year under Biden, for causing the rise in prices.

But voters don’t agree on what’s causing inflation. By 48-42%, more blame government policies than the pandemic, according to the Fox News poll. Democrats (66%) pointed to the pandemic, while Republicans (73%) cited federal policies.

The stunning inflation report comes a week after the Labor Department figures spotlighted no letup in the very robust jobs recovery. Republicans were waiting to take aim at the White House – amid expectations of a lackluster January unemployment report. But the figures showed that job growth rose far more than expected despite the surge in COVID cases due to the omicron variant. And the report also highlighted soaring wage growth for the month, and for last year.

But the jump in wages – skyrocketing 5.7% over the 12 months that ended in January – is still lower that the 7.5% surge in consumer prices.

Reacting to Thursday’s economic headline, President Biden noted: "My two top economic priorities have been to create a growing economy with more good-paying jobs, and to lower the prices Americans have faced from the global problem of inflation related to the pandemic. We have seen historic success on the first priority, with the greatest year of job growth in history."

But Biden acknowledged that when it comes to inflation "today is a reminder that Americans’ budgets are being stretched in ways that create real stress at the kitchen table."

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"There are also signs that we will make it through this challenge," Biden emphasized. "While today’s report is elevated, forecasters continue to project inflation easing substantially by the end of 2022."

But the end of the year may be too late to help the Democrats in the midterms, say GOP pollsters, who point to rising frustrations among voters as they cope with higher prices at the gas pumps and grocery stores.

Fox News' Dana Blanton contributed to this report.