WASHINGTON (AP) – President Joe Biden said on Thursday that the American people are “really, really down” after two stormy years with the coronavirus pandemic, economic instability and now rising gasoline prices hitting family budgets. But he stressed that a recession “is not inevitable” and expressed hope that it would give the country a greater sense of confidence.
Speaking to the Associated Press in a 30-minute interview with the Oval Office, the president highlighted the battered economy he inherited and the enduring psychological scars caused by a pandemic that disrupted people’s sense of identity. He was shocked by Republican lawmakers’ claims that last year’s COVID-19 aid plan was entirely to blame for inflation, which peaked at 40 years, calling the argument “strange.”
As for American thinking as a whole, Biden said, “People are really, really dropped out.”
“Their need for mental health in America has skyrocketed because people saw everything upset,” Biden said. “Everything they relied on is upset. But most of it is a consequence of what happened, what happened as a result of the COVID crisis. “
This pessimism has spread to the economy as record pump prices and sustained inflation have jeopardized the Democrats’ ability to keep the House of Representatives and the Senate in the midterm elections. Biden turned to economists’ warnings that fighting inflation could lead the United States into recession.
“First, it’s not inevitable,” he said. “Second, we are in a stronger position than any nation in the world to overcome this inflation.
As for the causes of inflation, Biden showed some defensive stance on the issue. “If it’s my fault, why is inflation higher in every other major industrial country in the world?” Are you wondering that? “I’m not a wise man,” he said.
The president’s statement seems to be about rising global inflation, not necessarily whether countries have had higher rates than the United States. Economic cooperation and development.
The president said he saw a reason for optimism in the 3.6% unemployment rate and America’s relative strength in the world.
But restoring confidence has so far escaped Biden, whose approval ratings have fallen steadily as he is losing support among Democrats and there is little evidence to show that he could restore a sense of bipartisan normalcy in Washington.
Biden’s oval cabinet is full of portraits of presidents facing crises threatening the country, and the president acknowledged that there are parallels to his own situation. A picture of Franklin Delano Roosevelt hangs over his fireplace, a place of prominence because historian John Mitchum told Biden that no president has taken office with the economy under such dire circumstances. There is also a picture of Abraham Lincoln, who became president with a nation brutally divided and on the brink of civil war.
Yet Biden’s drug is not so different from the diagnosis made by former President Jimmy Carter in 1979, when the US economy was crippled by stagflation. Carter said at the time that the United States was suffering from a “crisis of confidence” and that “the erosion of our confidence in the future threatens to destroy America’s social and political fabric.”
The president said he wanted to give the United States more enthusiasm, strength and courage.
“Be confident,” Biden said. “It simply came to our notice then. We are in a better position than any other country in the world to own the second quarter of the 21st century. ”
Biden’s grim assessment of the national psyche comes as voters worsen his work and the country’s direction. Only 39 percent of adults in the United States approve of Biden’s nomination as president, according to a May study by the Associated Press’s NORC Center for Public Research, which fell from negative ratings a month earlier.
Overall, only about 2 in 10 adults say the United States is moving in the right direction or that the economy is good, both falling from about 3 to 10 in April. These declines were concentrated among Democrats, with only 33% of the president’s party saying the country was moving in the right direction.
Biden said Republican social policies are contributing to public concerns. He suggested that Republican lawmakers could face repercussions in interim terms if the Supreme Court overturns Rowe v. Wade, possibly removing national protections against access to abortion. Voters will consider “the failure of this Republican Party to be willing” to address “the country’s main social problems,” the president said.
The president outlined some of the difficult elections he faces, saying the United States must oppose Russian President Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine in February, although harsh sanctions imposed as a result of the war have led to rising prices. of gas, creating a political risk for Biden in an election year. He called on oil companies to think about the world’s short-term needs and increase production.
Asked why he ordered financial sanctions against Moscow, which upset food and energy markets around the world, Biden said he made his calculations as commander-in-chief rather than election-minded politician.
“I am the president of the United States,” he said. “It’s not about my political survival. It is about the best for the country. No kidding. No kidding. So what’s going on? What will happen if the strongest force, NATO, the organizational structure we have set up, moves away from Russian aggression? “
Biden has revealed the possibility of chaos in Europe if an unhindered Russia continues to move deeper into the continent, China is encouraged to take over Taiwan, and North Korea becomes even more aggressive with its ambitions for nuclear weapons.
Biden reiterated that large oil companies have benefited from higher prices without increasing production as much as they should. He said companies need to think about the world in the short term, not just their investors.
“Don’t reward yourself,” he said.
Consumer prices have jumped 8.6% in the last year, the sharpest rise in more than 40 years. Republican lawmakers said Biden’s $ 1.9 trillion coronavirus relief package last year ushered in a spiral of price increases.
The president said there was “zero evidence” of the claim, noting that other countries had suffered higher prices as economies reopened and people were vaccinated. However, Biden confirmed Finance Minister Janet Yellen’s claim that spending has a limited inflationary effect.
“You can argue that this has had a marginal, insignificant effect on inflation,” he said. “I do not think so. And most economists don’t think so. But the idea that it caused inflation is strange. “
Still, high inflation has created a conundrum for Biden. He gave priority to the return of millions of jobs and saw the unemployment rate return close to pre-pandemic levels. The Federal Reserve on Wednesday raised its key interest rate in hopes of slowing the economy and reducing inflation to a 2% target.
The tightening of Fed policy has led to a slump in financial markets and prompted many economists to warn of a potential recession next year. The president encouraged Americans to remain patient.
“They don’t have to believe the warning,” he said. “They just have to say, ‘Let’s see.’ Let’s see what’s right. “
The president is still trying to direct his internal agenda through Congress after an earlier iteration last year failed to clear 50-50 of the Senate. Biden said, “I believe I have the votes” to reduce the prices of prescription drugs, reduce utility bills for families with tax incentives and introduce a minimum 15% corporate tax. He said his plans would cut costs for many Americans, although the measure would be reduced by previous intentions for expanded child tax credit, universal preschool programs and more.
“I will be able to get, God willing, the ability to pay for prescription drugs,” Biden said. “There is more than one way to reduce the cost of working people.”
And then, in recognition of the political constraints he faces, Biden added: “I can’t do everything.
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