Karine Jean-Pierre insists inflation will not bring Biden down during first debate – Washington Examiner

White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre insisted that President Joe Biden would not be bogged down by inflation during Thursday’s presidential debate, arguing the president will showcase a contrast between him and his Republican rival, former President Donald Trump.

Inflation is likely to be one of several key topics motivating voters ahead of the election, with Trump hinting on Saturday he would use this topic as a tactic against Biden during the debate. When asked how Biden would respond to criticism on his handling of inflation, Jean-Pierre contended that the Biden administration was handling inflation as it was dealing with the COVID-19 pandemic and that the president signed several pieces of legislation to help the country “get back on its feet.”

“So, yes, eggs and milk and there are grocery things that were up, it has gone down,” Jean-Pierre said. “It has gone down since 2022. Gas prices, because of the actions that this president took, and let’s not forget there was an invasion. Russia did obviously enter Ukraine. That caused gas prices to tick up. The president took action, tapped the SPR, and we saw gas prices go down. The president has met the moment with every issue that we have had in front of us. The president obviously talks about that often. He’s going to have another opportunity on Thursday to speak to those issues.”

The comment on gas prices decreasing comes as they increased slightly on Monday, going from $3.447 last week to $3.448. Republicans have also criticized the president for “political abuse” for using the Strategic Petroleum Reserve to bring down the cost of gas, with Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-WA) and Senate Republican Conference Chairman John Barrasso (R-WY) accusing the administration of lowering gas prices ahead of the 2024 election.

Jean-Pierre also directed her attention to Trump, citing him and his administration as “the reason why we have chaos” after Roe v. Wade was overturned, saying in vitro fertilization is “on the line” in this election. She also contended the children of voters will have fewer rights when they grow up.

The press secretary’s statement about IVF being at risk was made even though Trump has advocated IVF, saying he “strongly” supports it in the wake of a controversial Alabama Supreme Court ruling earlier this year. Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) has called IVF “amazing technology” and worked on legislation with Sen. Katie Britt (R-AL) that would make states ineligible to receive Medicaid funding if their legislatures or courts move to ban IVF.

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Ahead of the 2024 presidential debate, Trump appeared at the Faith and Freedom Coalition conference on Saturday, during which he pulled out a miniature Tic-Tac container and compared it to a normal-sized Tic-Tac container to joke about Biden’s handling of the economy. The former president said this is what inflation is doing to voters and that he wants to “end the Biden inflation nightmare.”

Trump will not be able to recreate his Tic-Tac comparison during the debate, as candidates are not allowed to bring props or prewritten notes. Additionally, there will only be two breaks throughout the 90-minute debate, and neither he nor Biden can converge with their campaign teams during these breaks. CNN will host the debate, but it will be simulcast across cable news and broadcast networks Thursday night.