White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre on Thursday said Russian President Vladimir Putin is to blame for U.S. inflation hitting its highest rate in four decades.
"What we're seeing with gas prices, what we're seeing with inflation, even with the cost of food going up, it is a global challenge and a lot of that is connected to Russia's war," Jean-Pierre said during an appearance on "The View."
On President Joe Biden's decision to push Congress to pass a gas tax holiday, Jean-Pierre responded:
"Anything helps. Eighteen cents per gallon is going to make a difference for many.
"The president has been working for the past several months on doing everything that he can to give relief. We have to remember how we got here, what is the cause, you know, Putin's war, we call it Putin's tax hike has caused gas prices to go up $2 per gallon," she said.
Many Republicans and Democrats have pushed back against Biden's idea to suspend the gas tax.
"Look, that's not the approach I would use," Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., said Wednesday. "I would use a more systemic approach."
And she noted "I'm deeply, deeply sympathetic to the fact that families are paying a lot at the pump."
Jean-Pierre lauded Biden for the work he's done since he was elected.
"When the president walked into the White House over a year ago, the economy was tanking, schools were closed, small businesses were shutting down," she said, adding that Biden needed to address issues relating to the pandemic.
"Another thing he was able to do was pass the American Rescue Plan, his plan that only Democrats voted for and now you fast-forward to today, we do have some unique strengths, we do have a strong economy."
When people "look at their household balance sheets, it is strengthened in a way because of what the president has done," she added.
The economy is in a transition and "we're going through that transition to be more in a stable, steady growth, and that's how we believe we'll be able to fight inflation," she said.
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