Congressman Jim Clyburn (D-SC) conceded that while there is very high inflation in an increasingly poor economy, he told CNN it is not President Joe Biden's fault but rather the fault of former President Donald Trump.
When CNN anchor John Berman asked the House Majority Whip if the country is headed towards a recession, Clyburn shifted to talking about the COVID-19 pandemic.
"Well, none of us are pleased with the economy. We know what a deep hole that we were in. As you know, I chair the Coronavirus Subcommittee and I know how flawed our health care system was in trying to get the virus under control. I know how inept the previous administration was in terms of getting out in front of this virus,"
"We got ourselves into a deep hole, and in order to get out of that hole, we had to ratchet up spending, we put money in the economy, we tried to keep businesses open, tried to keep people with income in their pockets. And whenever you do that, you run the risk of inflating things," he continued. "And what you then have to do is try to find some balance in all of that. And we’re searching for that balance. We’ll get there. But it took some time because of the ineptness when it came to getting out in front of this virus."
Clyburn further stated he would support Biden implementing a gas tax holiday to help ease the historic high gas prices currently afflicting the nation. Biden administration officials considered sending out rebate cards to millions of drivers to help them pay at gas stations but shortages in the chip industry would make it hard to produce enough rebate cards for all drivers in the country.
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